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A suspect is in custody after two people were killed and four injured - including a police officer - in a shooting at a shopping mall in Boise, Idaho.

At a news conference on Monday, authorities said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The majority of the mall has been cleared but police were still looking for any additional victims.

Police didn't release any other information, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Police are asking people to avoid the area and were notifying the families of those involved.

The Boise Towne Square shopping mall is located in Idaho's largest city and is the city's largest mall.

Police were interviewing dozens of people outside the entrance to Macy's, one of five large department stores at the mall that has 153 stores.

Police are also investigating what appears to be another crime scene at a restaurant near the mall.

Cheri Gypin, of Boise, was in the mall with a friend. She said she heard several large bangs, but thought something had fallen from the ceiling.

Then about 60 people, including families pushing strollers, came running at them, some of them shouting that there was an active shooter.

"My friend was trying to process it," said Gypin, 60.

"I just looked at her and said, 'We've got to run.' So we just ran and kept running until we got to the outer perimeter of the parking lot."

They made their way back to their car, where police told the crowd of people who had fled the mall to leave the parking area.

© AP 2021

Image (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman via AP)

Australians are being urged to take a small step towards improving the environment by recycling the estimated 100 million pairs of unused shoes across the nation.

A survey from national recycling initiative TreadLightly has found the average Australian owns about five pairs of shoes they don't wear.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of the more than 1000 people surveyed keep the shoes for a "rainy day or for sentimental reasons", while more than half (51 per cent) throw them in the rubbish.

Women are more likely to keep shoes they don't wear, holding onto an average of seven pairs of shoes compared to men, who keep three.

Shoe components can take more than 1000 years to break down in landfill but they can be recycled into mats and flooring for use in retail stores, gyms and playgrounds.

TreadLightly, operated by the Australian Sporting Goods Association with support from the federal government, is calling on Australians to help reach its goal of recycling more than one million pairs of shoes by 2023.

Instead of throwing unused shoes in the bin, the group wants people to drop them off at participating retailers for them to be recycled responsibly.

"All you need to do is look around your home for any unwanted sports or active lifestyle shoes - from sneakers and trainers to golf shoes - and take them into one of our 400-plus participating retailers to be recycled when your state opens up," Shaun Bajada from the Australian Sporting Goods Association said in a statement.

© AAP 2021

Petrol prices have struck a record high on average as global oil prices continue to rise, fuelling concerns about both the inflation and interest rate outlook.

The Australian average for unleaded petrol rose 8.8 cents per litre in the past week to a record of 169.5 cents.

They were particularly high along the east coast, topping 170 cents per litre, and were even above 180 cents per litre in Brisbane and Adelaide.

"As a net importer of refined petroleum, the cost of fuel continues to increase for Aussie petroleum retailers," Commonwealth Securities senior economisr Ryan Felsman said.

"In turn, servos are passing on higher costs to consumers at the pump."

Rising fuel price are expected to be a feature of Wednesday's September quarter inflation figures.

Economists' forecasts point to a 0.8 per cent rise in the consumer price index for the September quarter.

While this would see the annual rate ease to 3.1 per cent compared to the coronavirus-related 3.8 per cent spike as of the June quarter, it would still remain at the top end of the RBA's two to three per cent inflation target.

But underlying inflation - which smooths out excessive price swings and is more linked to interest rate decisions made by the RBA - is likely to remain subdued.

Predictions centre on underlying inflation rising 0.5 per cent in the September quarter to 1.9 per cent annually.

However, financial markets see upside risk to these forecasts, particularly in light of New Zealand's inflation result, which saw annual inflation spike to almost five per cent and the highest since 2011.

"We doubt that Australia's CPI print will show anything like the same sort of broad-based strength and, critically, underlying inflation is still expected to be below the bottom edge of the RBA's two to three per cent target band," HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said.

"Although Australia and New Zealand are often grouped together from a global markets perspective, this superficial view can sometimes hide quite stark economic divergences."

Notably, Australian wage growth is running below its pre-pandemic rate at 1.7 per cent, while New Zealand wage growth is running at 2.2 per cent and above pre-COVID levels.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has repeatedly said it will need wage growth of three per cent to lift inflation sustainably within the target band, something it does not expect to occur before 2024.

Even so, markets are pricing in the risk of higher interest rates as early as next year.

An inflation shock would make it even harder for people to enter the housing market if it resulted in higher interest rates.

As it is, Moody's Investors Service believes affordability will continue to deteriorate over the next few months as property prices rise further while lending rates and household incomes stay broadly steady.

"Wage rises on the back of a rebound in economic activity as states relax lockdown curbs could help cushion the impact of price increases," Moody's analyst Pratik Joshi says.

"Conversely, an 'expected inflation' shock could raise mortgage lending rates from current record-low levels, thereby further weakening housing affordability."

Consumer inflation expectations, as measured by the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan survey, stand at their highest level since 2014.

© AAP 2021

Image: Virrage Images/shutterstock.com