LOS ANGELES (KNX) — The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers increased 6.8 percent over the last 12 months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, marking the largest 12-month increase since the period ending in June 1982.
The indexes for food, gasoline, shelter, used cars and trucks, and new vehicles were among the larger contributors to the spike.
The food index rose 0.7% percent with the index for food at home increased 0.8 percent. The energy index rose 3.5% in November as the gasoline index increased 6.1% plus other major energy component indexes also rose.
NBC Philadelphia reported that the acceleration of prices, which began after the pandemic, hit as 'Americans stuck at home flooded factories with orders for goods, has spread to services, from apartment rents and restaurant meals to medical services and entertainment. Even some retailers that built their businesses around the allure of ultra-low prices have begun boosting them.'
And new polls reveal that more people are feeling the pinch of higher inflation than the allure of bigger paychecks. Two-thirds say their household costs have risen since the pandemic, compared with only about a quarter who say their incomes have increased, per a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The energy index rose 33.3 percent over the last year. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.9 percent over the last 12 months and the food index increased 6.1 percent. This has caused the largest 12-month increases in at least 13 years in the respective series.
With gas prices rising, the gasoline index rose 58.1 percent over 2021, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending in April 1980. The index for natural gas rose 25.1 percent over the last 12 months, and the electricity index rose 6.5 percent. Additionally, the index for used cars and trucks rose 31.4 percent over the last year, and the index for new vehicles rose 11.1 percent.
The shelter index rose 3.8 percent, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending in June of 2007.
The CPI shows the change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services each month. It outlines spending patterns for each of two population groups: all urban consumers and urban wage earners and clerical workers. The all urban consumer group represents about 93 percent of the total U.S. population.
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