"Here Are The Areas Weighing Heavier On Your Wallet As Inflation Persists"
Though year-over-year inflation declined last month, a closer look at the data shows that many of the costs households experience on a daily basis are still increasing.
Price levels rose 7.7% between October 2021 and October 2022, according to a Thursday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicating that inflation has begun to slow amid contractionary policy from the Federal Reserve. The month-to-month increase of 0.4% was below analysts’ forecasts, while the 0.3% increase in core inflation, which factors out the more volatile food and energy categories, was likewise lower than expected.
The lower headline number was driven by declines in areas such as used vehicles, apparel, and medical care services, which have a lower day-to-day impact upon consumers. Overall food prices rose 0.6% while energy prices rose 1.8%, the first such increase since June. Shelter costs rose 0.8%, marking their fastest increase since the beginning of the year.
“The pervasiveness of price increases remains problematic,” Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. “In categories that are necessities — shelter, food, and energy — we continue to see large and consistent increases. The areas posting declines are for the most part either irregular or more discretionary in nature — airfare, used cars, and apparel.”
Markets rallied on Thursday in reaction to the inflation report, with the Dow Jones rising 1,036 points, or 3.2%, and the S&P 500 rising 176 points, or 4.7%. McBride added that if the most recent inflation news “constitutes improvement,” market actors have “set a very low bar.”
“Any meaningful relief for household budgets is still somewhere over the horizon,” he continued. “Inflation has run far hotter for far longer than expected and we have yet to string together any kind of winning streak… there is plenty of opportunity for further disappointment.”
dailywire.com