High inflation is still squeezing Americans' budgets
A 'Mornings with Maria' panel discusses the U.S. economy and markets after the January year-over-year CPI comes in at 3.1%.
Inflation may be gradually cooling, but the average American is still shelling out a lot more money for everyday necessities.
The typical U.S. household needed to pay $213 more a month in January to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation, according to new calculations from Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.
Americans are paying onaverage $605 more each month compared with the same time two years ago and $1,019 more compared with three years ago, before the inflation crisis began.
The analysis suggests that while inflation has fallen from the highs of mid-2022, many families have yet to see material relief.
MORE AMERICANS ARE GETTING A SECOND JOB TO OFFSET STING OF HIGH INFLATION
«Inflation is generally moving in the right direction… But it’s important to remember that a lower inflation rate does not mean that prices of most things are falling,» said Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS chief economist. «Rather, it simply means that prices are rising more slowly. Consumers are still feeling the pinch of higher prices for the things they buy most often.»
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.3% in January from the previous month. Prices climbed 3.1% from the same time last year. Both of those figures came in higher than the 0.2% monthly increase and 2.9% headline figure forecast by Refinitiv economists.
However, when compared with January 2021, shortly before the inflation crisis began, prices remain up a stunning 17.97%.
Infl
Read more on foxbusiness.com
