As inflation hit a four-decade high, surging past forecasts and estimates, millions of Americans are struggling to keep up — worsening the political crisis President Joe Biden is facing.
On Wednesday (July 13), the Department of Labor announced CPI (consumer price index) data. The index measures the price of everyday goods, making it the most telling evaluation of the inflation with which the average American has to contend.
The index, which analyzes the price of gasoline, groceries, and rent, rose to 9.1 percent year-over-year in June. The data showed prices surged by 1.3 percent from the month before.
Both figures, the annual and monthly increases surpassed forecasts by Refinitiv, which had the increase pegged at 1 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.
This data also means that inflation has hit the fastest pace in over 40 years, with inflation last hitting such numbers in December 1981.
Core prices data — which excludes the most volatile measures of energy and food — hit 5.9 percent year-over-year and increased by 0.7 percent in the one month, surpassing the monthly increases in April and May.
This indicates that underlying inflationary pressure remains buoyant and widespread.
Further analysis of the data suggests — extracted from the extensive nature of price increases — that inflation hasn’t reached its peak.
In June, energy increased by 7.5 percent from May 2022 and 41.6 percent year-over-year.
Gasoline costs 59.9 percent more than it did in June 2021 and is up 11.2 percent over the one-month period to June 2022.
Cereal, chicken, fresh vegetables, and milk all cost more, as consumers had to contend with a food index that climbed 1 percent over the one-month period.
