Inflation Causing Hardship for 45% of U.S. Households

[Shiloh]

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/357731/...ouseholds.aspx

December 2, 2021
Inflation Causing Hardship for 45% of U.S. Households
by Mohamed Younis

Story Highlights

45% of Americans report financial hardship triggered by increased prices
10% describe the hardship as threatening their current standard of living
Seven in 10 lower-income Americans experiencing hardship

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the peak of holiday shopping approaches and winter temperatures drive up heating costs across the U.S., 45% of American households report that recent price increases are causing their family some degree of financial hardship. Ten percent describe it as severe hardship affecting their standard of living, while another 35% say the hardship is moderate...

[sharon sanders]

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United States Inflation Rate February 2022 Data
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The annual inflation rate in the US accelerated to 7.5% in January of 2022, the highest since February of 1982 and well above market forecasts of 7.3%, as soaring energy costs, labour shortages, and supply disruptions coupled with strong demand weigh. Energy remained the biggest contributor (27% vs 29.3% in December), with gasoline prices surging 40% (49.6% in December). Inflation accelerated for shelter (4.4% vs 4.1%); food (7% vs 6.3%), namely food at home (7.4% vs 6.5%); new vehicles (12.2% vs 11.8%); used cars and trucks (40.5% vs 37.3%); and medical care services (2.7% vs 2.5%). Excluding volatile energy and food categories, the CPI rose 6%, the most since August of 1982. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.6%, in line with forecasts. The January figure includes changes in seasonal adjustment factors with the bigger weight given to used cars and trucks and a smaller one for food away from home, but the calculations did not affect unadjusted data. source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

[sharon sanders]

Personally the exercise of food selection is now a pain. We are growing our own veggies and are sprouting. The only beef we occasional eat is ground and it is a real treat. Whole Paycheck (Foods) is out completely for us. Publix has prices that are like a specialty grocery store. Anything reasonably priced at WalMart is in very short supply. I make bread but we still buy some.

Sprouting video - I use a salad mix of sprouts and it is delicious.

[Emily]

I should start sprouting. Sprouts have been super-expensive for some time now to the point that I don't buy them. Whole Paycheck still has some good deals, such as their brand of canned salmon. We seldom shop there since it is a long drive. (Gas is up more than double since we moved the first year of the pandemic. We combine all trips as much as possible.)
I shop sales everywhere and always have done that.
I hope the Ukr war is over soon.

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/10/cpi-...ary-2022-.html

Inflation rose 7.9% in February, as food and energy costs push prices to highest in more than 40 years
Published Thu, Mar 10 20228:31 AM ESTUpdated 5 Min Ago
Jeff Cox

Inflation grew worse in February amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine and price pressures that became more entrenched.

The consumer price index, which measures a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, increased 7.9% over the past 12 months, a fresh 40-year high for the closely followed gauge.

The February acceleration was the fastest pace since January1982, back when the U.S. economy confronted the twin threat of higher inflation and reduced economic growth.

On a month-over-month basis, the CPI gain was 0.8%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected headline inflation to increase 7.8% for the year and 0.7% for the month.

Food prices rose 1% and food at home jumped 1.4%, both the fastest monthly gains since April 2020, in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Energy also was at the forefront of ballooning prices, up 3.5% for February and accounting for about one-third of the headline gain. Shelter costs, which account for about one-third of the CPI weighting, accelerated another 0.5%, for a 12-month gain of 4.7%.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 6.4%, in line with estimates and the highest since August 1982. On a monthly basis, core CPI was up 0.5, also consistent with Wall Street expectations. ...

[sharon sanders]

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[sharon sanders]

'I would consider living in my car': How some Americans are impacted by inflation
Mar 11, 2022

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INFLATION

Published 4 hours ago

Inflation surges 8.5% in March, hitting a new 40-year high
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By Megan Henney FOXBusiness
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Price increases were widespread: Energy prices rose a stunning 11% in March from the previous month, and are up 32% from last year. Gasoline, on average, costs 48% more than it did last year after rising 18.3% in March on a monthly basis as the Russian war in Ukraine fueled a rapid increase in oil prices.
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Food prices have also climbed 8.8% higher over the year and 1% over the month, with the largest increases in cereal and bakery products (10%), poultry, fish and meat (13.8%), fresh fruits and vegetables (8.1%), and eggs (11.2%).

Used car and truck prices, which have been a major component of the inflation increase, are still up 35.3% from the previous year, but actually declined by 1.8% in the one-month period between February and March. Shelter costs are up 5% year over year and jumped 0.6% for the month.
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Rising inflation is eating away at strong wage gains that American workers have seen in recent months: Real average hourly earnings decreased 0.8% in March from the previous month, as the 1.2% inflation increase eroded the 0.4% total wage gain, according to the Labor Department. On an annual basis, real earnings fell 2.7% in March.
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https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/march-consumer-price-index-inflation

[Emily]

Unmaintained pools were a public health problem during the mortgage driven recession. People could try to maintain their own pools, but the smallest packages of chemicals can be too heavy for many people to safely move even if they are capable of figuring out dosing and testing methods.

https://www.aquamagazine.com/service/business-operations/article/15290696/soaring-gas-prices-rattle-service

Soaring Gas Prices Rattle Service

AQUA Editors
Apr 12, 2022

The sudden rise in inflation to levels unseen in decades has challenged most businesses, but for pool and spa service companies that are on the road every working day, some of them buying tens of thousands of gallons, the effect of a gas price rise is more dramatic.
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Like all cost increases, a rise in fuel cost must be passed on to the customer to preserve profits and, for that matter, the company itself.
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“I have no problem sharing numbers. The gas prices they know of, but they still comment that the number seems really high. And I just tell them, ‘Well, our chemical prices have more than doubled, too.’ I tell them how a bottle of acid used to cost me $2.64, and now, I believe, it’s over $6. All of that stuff accounts for price increases.”...

[Pathfinder]

Economic News Release

Consumer Price Index Summary


Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) May 11, 2022 USDL-22-0835 Technical information: (202) 691-7000 * cpi_info@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cpi Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX - APRIL 2022


The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.2 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.

Increases in the indexes for shelter, food, airline fares, and new vehicles were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase. The food index rose 0.9 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 1.0 percent. The energy index declined in April after rising in recent months. The index for gasoline fell 6.1 percent over the month, offsetting increases in the indexes for natural gas and electricity.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in April following a 0.3-percent advance in March. Along with indexes for shelter, airline fares, and new vehicles, the indexes for medical care, recreation, and household furnishings and operations all increased in April. The indexes for apparel, communication, and used cars and trucks all declined over the month.

The all items index increased 8.3 percent for the 12 months ending April, a smaller increase than the 8.5-percent figure for the period ending in March. The all items less food and energy index rose 6.2 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index rose 30.3 percent over the last year, and the food index increased 9.4 percent, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1981.

...

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

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MAY 12, 2022

By a wide margin, Americans view inflation as the top problem facing the country today

BY CARROLL DOHERTY AND VIANNEY GÓMEZ

The public views inflation as the top problem facing the United States – and no other concern comes close.

Seven-in-ten Americans view inflation as a very big problem for the country...

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/05/12/by-a-wide-margin-americans-view-inflation-as-the-top-problem-facing-the-country-today/

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No, you’re not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
yesterday

It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see.

From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide.

In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.
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https://apnews.com/article/india-prices-business-d2c8279d39e1304f5623b3a99b56b8cc

[sharon sanders]

I have noticed this! At first I thought I was imagining the smaller packaging. My family has switched to warehouse outlets. The local grocery chain is now as expensive as the specialty stores.

[Pathfinder]

Strong inflation, anxious consumers add up to more worries that recession has already arrived

PUBLISHED FRI, JUN 10 20221:29 PM EDTUPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Jeff Cox
...

The case that a recession is looming over the U.S. got stronger Friday, as blistering inflation and historic lows in consumer sentiment painted an increasingly dark economic picture.

As if the consumer price index increase of 8.6% wasn’t bad enough news, that release was followed later in the morning by the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment.

That widely followed gauge of optimism registered a paltry 50.2, the lowest in survey data going back to 1978. That’s lower than the depths of the Covid outbreak, lower than the financial crisis, lower even than the last inflation peak back in 1981.

Taken together, the data add up to an outlook that is not good for those hoping the U.S. could skirt its first recession since the brief pandemic downturn of 2020.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it started in the third quarter of this year,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

...

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/inflation-consumer-woe-add-to-worries-that-recession-is-already-here.html

[Pathfinder]

Consumer Price Index Summary


Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) July 13, 2022 USDL-22-1470

Technical information: (202) 691-7000 * cpi_info@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cpi
Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX - JUNE 2022

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.3 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.0 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 9.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The increase was broad-based, with the indexes for gasoline, shelter, and food being the largest contributors. The energy index rose 7.5 percent over the month and contributed nearly half of the all items increase, with the gasoline index rising 11.2 percent and the other major component indexes also rising. The food index rose 1.0 percent in June, as did the food at home index. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in June, after increasing 0.6 percent in the preceding two months. While almost all major component indexes increased over the month, the largest contributors were the indexes for shelter, used cars and trucks, medical care, motor vehicle insurance, and new vehicles.

The indexes for motor vehicle repair, apparel, household furnishings and operations, and recreation also increased in June. Among the few major component indexes to decline in June were lodging away from home and airline fares. The all items index increased 9.1 percent for the 12 months ending June, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending November 1981.

The all items less food and energy index rose 5.9 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index rose 41.6 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1980. The food index increased 10.4 percent for the 12-months ending June, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending February 1981.

...

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm