How much would you like to bet that President Joe Biden’s administration will only concentrate on falling gas prices to spin the August inflation report as a positive for him?
Inflation rose 0.1% in August to 8.3%. Taking out the volatile items (food and energy), inflation rose 6.3% over the last 12 months.
Consumers are still feeling the pain at the grocery store (emphasis mine):
The food at home index rose 13.5 percent over the last 12 months, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending March 1979. The index for other food at home rose 16.7 percent and the index for cereals and bakery products increased 16.4 percent over the year. The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases ranging from 9.4 percent (fruits and vegetables) to 16.2 percent (dairy and related products). The index for food away from home rose 8.0 percent over the last year. The index for full service meals rose 9.0 percent over the last 12 months, and the index for limited service meals rose 7.2 percent over the last year.
You could consider the three eggs in my lunch a luxury item!
Plus, you cannot keep up with an increase in prices when the pay is in the negative.
Everything increased in the 12-month period ending August 2022. Everything.
Here are some stats that stood out the most to me:
All major grocery store food categories increased by 0.7% in August.
Food away from home increased +0.9%. If you think you’re paying more for lunch at school and work? You are!
The food at home and away from home index combined rose 11.4%, “the largest increase since the period ending May 1979.”
Overall energy went down 5.0% thanks to Energy Commodities. However, I cannot wait for September’s inflation report because gas prices went down in OKC, but now they’re going up again.
Anyway, here are the stats for Energy Commodities:
But energy services increased 2.1%, which are the sources for the home:
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