Six people have been killed and at least two dozen injured after a man with a high-powered rifle opened fire from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

Police said they had identified a person of interest in the shooting, 22-year-old Robert E Crimo III, who was from the area.

They said he was driving a silver 2010 Honda Fit vehicle.

"He is considered armed and dangerous," sheriff's department spokesman Christopher Covelli said.

Officials said a rifle was recovered from the scene, and a hospital official reported 31 people were injured - 25 with gunshot wounds.

Those hurt range in age from eight to 85, a hospital spokesman said.

At least one of those killed was a Mexican national, a senior Mexican Foreign Ministry official said on Twitter.

The shooting comes with gun violence fresh on the minds of many Americans, after a massacre on May 24 killed 19 children and two teachers at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, which followed a May 14 attack when 10 people were gunned down at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

Children waving US flags, riding tricycles or enjoying a ride in a wagon pulled by adults froze as people in the crowd screamed while gun shots rang out, video on social media showed.

One mobile phone video, seen but not verified by Reuters, recorded what sounded to be about 30 rapid shots, a pause, and then another roughly 30 shots.

Between the two bursts, a woman can be heard saying from the side of the parade route: "My God, what happened?".

Police said the gunman remained at large.

"He could be in the city. He could be somewhere else," Covelli said earlier.

He said the shooting took place from the rooftop of a business that the gunman reached via an unsecured alley ladder attached to the building.

Police asked the public for tips and mobile phone images and surveillance video to help find him. They did not have a motive for the shooting.

President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day".

Biden said he had "surged federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter."

In his statement, Biden referred to bipartisan gun-reform legislation he signed recently but said much more needed to be done.

"I'm not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence," he said.

Witness Amarani Garcia, who was at the parade with her young daughter, told the local ABC TV station she heard gunfire, then a pause for what she suspected was reloading, and then more shots.

There were "people screaming and running. It was just really traumatising", Garcia said.

"I was very terrified. I hid with my daughter actually in a little store. It just makes me feel like we're not safe anymore."

Social media video showed a marching band breaking formation and running away, and other images of people leaving their belongings behind as they sought safety.

"Everyone was running, hiding and screaming," said CBS 2 Digital Producer Elyssa Kaufman, who was at the scene.

A 36-year-old native of Highland Park who wanted to be identified only as Sara, told Reuters she had attended the annual parade most years since childhood.

"Not even five minutes after, very shortly after, the police and firetrucks part of the parade had gone by I heard 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop'," she said, adding that she first thought they were muskets some times used in parades.

"I looked and there were no muskets. The popping didn't stop ... again it went 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop' and I turned and I said 'those are gun shots, run'."

Highland Park's population is 30,000 and nearly 90 per cent white, according to the US Census Bureau. About a third of the population is Jewish, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

© RAW 2022

A mellow Nick Kyrgios and an emotional Ajla Tomljanovic have made it a memorable Monday for Australia's Wimbledon challenge on a day of heart, courage and tears on the lawns of SW19.

A big day for Aussie tennis, with four players in the last-16 draws for the first time since 1999, was tinged with disappointment as both Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler were knocked out in the fourth round.

But the Kyrgios-Tomljanovic double made it the first time since Jelena Dokic, Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis in 2000 that Australia could celebrate both men's and women's players in the quarter-finals.

Kyrgios took on the men's mantle of 'Aussie battler' by scrapping into the quarters on a day when his famed volatility was replaced by stubborn bloody-mindedness on centre court as he tamed American Brandon Nakashima in five sets while nursing a shoulder injury.

Then Kyrgios's former girlfriend Tomljanovic, so often burdened by her own lack of self-belief, produced one of the gutsiest performances of her career to slay Wimbledon's very own giant-killer Alize Cornet and reach the last eight for the second year in a row.

No Australian woman has achieved that feat since Dokic 22 years ago, and Tomljanovic brought a lump to the throats of the fans on court 2 as she declared after her tears subsided: "I didn't really think I could do it ..."

De Minaur and Kubler, the archetypal 'Aussie battlers', had to hand over that crown for a day to Kyrgios, who produced, by his glittering standards, a subdued performance with few fireworks - and no controversy - but still wrestled his way to a first grand-slam quarter-final since the 2015 Australian Open.

The only disappointment after his 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-2 win over rising 20-year-old Nakashima was he wouldn't be able to play his Sydney pal and Aussie No.1 de Minaur in the last eight.

"I was really excited to play de Minaur to be honest. He's been flying the Aussie flag for so long and he was two sets up when I came on court," said Kyrgios, who'd been hoping Australia might get three men into the Wimbledon quarters for the first time in 51 years.

But de Minaur relinquished a two-set advantage, then was unable to convert either of two match points in the deciding set of a crushing 2-6 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 7-6 (10-6) loss to the unseeded Chilean Cristian Garin.

Kubler's dream run through the qualifiers to his first-ever grand slam quarter-final was then ended in perhaps predictably brutal fashion as he was taken to school by big-hitting American 11th seed Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-1 6-4.

But Kyrgios cast aside the showman's cloak to knuckle down to his win, which was a mercifully mellow affair compared to the mayhem that had enveloped his previous barn-burner with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

"I knew from the get-go I wasn't playing as well as I would have liked. I knew I had to keep my head down and just battle today. It was a good mental performance," said Kyrgios.

Tomljanovic must have been proud of hers too, as she had to come from a set down and hold off a late rally from the indomitable Cornet, conqueror of world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the previous round, before winning 4-6 6-4 6-3.

The 29-year-old will next tackle talented Kazakh left-hander Elena Rybakina, who beat her on clay in their only meeting in Madrid last year.

"After last year, facing Ash (Barty in the quarter-finals), I can face anyone," beamed Tomljanovic, who's making good viewing for the Netflix tennis documentary crew following her rejuvenating run.

© AAP 2022

Six people were killed have been killed and at least two dozen injured after a man with a high-powered rifle opened fire from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

Officials said a rifle was recovered from the scene, and a hospital official reported 31 people were injured, an increase on the initial count of 24.

Police said they were searching for a white male about 18 to 20 years old and asked the public for tips and mobile phone images and surveillance video.

"We are aggressively looking for the individual who's responsible," sheriff's department spokesman Christopher Covelli said.

"He could be in the city. He could be somewhere else."

The investigation has made "significant progress," he said without elaborating, except to say the shooting took place from the rooftop of a business the gunman reached via an unsecured alley ladder attached to the building.

The incident comes with gun violence fresh in the minds of many Americans, after a massacre on May 24 killed 19 children and two teachers at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the May 14 attack that killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day".

Biden said he had "surged federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter."

In his statement, Biden referred to bipartisan gun-reform legislation he signed recently but said much more needed to be done.

"I'm not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence," he said.

Staff at NorthShore Highland Park Hospital in Highland Park were treating 26 people, while five were transported to NorthShore Evanston Hospital.

"The vast majority suffered gunshot wounds," spokesman Jim Anthony said.

Children waving US flags, riding tricycles or enjoying a ride in a wagon pulled by adults froze as people in the crowd screamed while gun shots rang out, video on social media showed.

One mobile phone video, seen but not verified by Reuters, recorded what sounded to be about 30 rapid shots, a pause, and then another roughly 30 shots.

Between the two bursts, a woman can be heard saying from the side of the parade route: "My God, what happened?".

Witness Amarani Garcia, who was at the parade with her young daughter, told the local ABC affiliate she heard gunfire, then a pause for what she suspected was reloading, and then more shots.

There were "people screaming and running. It was just really traumatising", Garcia said.

"I was very terrified. I hid with my daughter actually in a little store. It just makes me feel like we're not safe anymore."

Social media video showed a marching band breaking formation and running away, and other images of people leaving their belongings behind as they sought safety.

"Everyone was running, hiding and screaming," said CBS 2 Digital Producer Elyssa Kaufman, who was at the scene.

A 36-year-old native of Highland Park who wanted to be identified only as Sara, told Reuters she had attended the annual parade most years since childhood.

"Not even five minutes after, very shortly after, the police and firetrucks part of the parade had gone by I heard 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop'," she said, adding that she first thought they were muskets some times used in parades.

"I looked and there were no muskets. The popping didn't stop ... again it went 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop' and I turned and I said 'those are gun shots, run'."

Highland Park's population is 30,000 and nearly 90 per cent white, according to the US Census Bureau. About a third of the population is Jewish, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

At least one of those killed was a Mexican national, a senior Mexican Foreign Ministry official said on Twitter.

© RAW 2022

An expected interest rate hike on Tuesday won't be the last before the end of the year, economists say.

The Reserve Bank board is widely tipped to hike the cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.35 per cent.

The RBA expects inflation to peak at seven per cent towards the end of the year rather than the six per cent predicted in May, with unemployment set to remain low.

The central bank wants inflation to return to its target band of two to three per cent, using a series of rate hikes to get there.

Another 50 point hike is expected in August following the release of second quarter inflation data, with smaller rises tipped to follow over the remainder of the year.

Australian National University RBA shadow board chair Timo Henckel said there was little option for the Reserve Bank but to lift rates, due to domestic and global factors.

"The challenges for the global economy are not going away any time soon: commodity shortages, high energy prices, inflation, disrupted global supply chains, the Ukraine war, COVID-19 and natural disasters," Dr Henckel said.

"Most OECD central banks are expected to lift policy rates by substantial amounts in order to curb inflation. In this environment it will be difficult for the RBA not to follow suit."

RBA shadow board member Sarah Hunter said the economic outlook was positive, with retail spending up and business and government activity strengthening.

"It is appropriate for the RBA to continue with further policy rate normalisation," she said.

"Moving into 2023, it is likely to become appropriate for the RBA to slow or even pause interest rate rises.

"The full impact of the monetary tightening implemented in 2022 will not be known until well into 2023, and the board will need to monitor the data carefully to ensure that they haven't gone too far, too fast."

CommSec chief economist Craig James said there appeared to be "no signs of borrower angst" in May in response to higher interest rates.

One of the surprising elements of the economy is the construction industry, with dwelling approvals rising 9.9 per cent month on month, on the back of a 32 per cent rise in apartment approvals.

But detached residential approvals were 2.7 per cent lower in the month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Housing Industry Association senior economist Nicholas Ward noted house approvals were 14.7 per cent higher than the same three months in 2019.

"Renovations activity also remains elevated. While the value of renovations approved fell by 1.8 per cent in the three months to May 2022, it is 38.9 per cent higher than the same three months in 2019."

As well, the ABS reported the value of new loan commitments in May rose 1.7 per cent for housing and 5.1 per cent for personal fixed-term loans.

© AAP 2022