

Inflation has been driven higher by soaring demand and lack of supply caused by Covid pandemic’s global impact on trade
(US – CPI).- Inflation in the US climbed to its highest level in 40 years in January, with prices rising by 7.5% from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday, February 10th..
The rise in the consumer price index (CPI) survey – which measures the costs of a wide variety of goods – was the largest since February 1982. CPI rose 0.6% from December, higher than expected but still down significantly from last October when inflation rose 0.9% on a monthly basis.
Inflation in America has been driven higher by soaring demand and a lack of supply caused by Covid-19’s global impact on trade.
Price rises for food, electricity, and shelter were the largest contributors to the increase. The food index rose 0.9% in January following a 0.5% increase in December. The energy index also increased 0.9% over the month.
After stripping out food and fuel – whose prices are volatile – inflation still climbed 6% on an annual basis. A nationwide shortage of used cars also continued to drive the rise. Used cars prices were 40.5% higher in January compared to a year ago. Housing costs rose 4.4% from a year ago.
The Federal Reserve has signaled that it intends to raise interest rates at its meeting in March in an effort to dampen spending and bring down prices. In a note to investors, Oxford Economics argues the latest CPI news was likely to mean rate rises in the months ahead.
“The Fed sees its top priority as taming inflation. These strong price data raise the prospect of the Fed starting its tightening cycle with a 50bps [basis points] rate hike at its March policy meeting, followed by consecutive rate hikes at the subsequent meetings,” it wrote.
Rising prices have battered Joe Biden’s approval ratings even as the jobs market has roared back from its pandemic slump. The US economy grew at 5.5% last year, the strongest growth rate since 1984, and more than 1.6m new jobs have been added in the last three months.
But with gas prices, food and housing prices still rising, just 37% of Americans approve of how he is handling the economy, according to a poll conducted by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Speaking in Virginia, Biden acknowledged the price hike news: “I know food prices are up. We’re working to bring them down. I’m going to work like the devil to bring gas prices down,” he said.
On Wednesday ahead of the latest CPI release, the White House warned the latest consumer prices snapshot could be high. “We expect a high yearly inflation reading in tomorrow’s data,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary. “Above 7%, as I think some are predicting, would not be a surprise.”
“What we’re looking at is recent trends … the inflationary increases are decreasing month to month,” Psaki said.
The Yucatan Times
Newsroom
Comments
more recommended stories
Influenza season ends with six deaths in Yucatan
The 2021-2022 seasonal influenza season concluded.
Bull escapes and injures a seven-year-old boy in Espita Yucatán
On Friday May 20th, a bull.
Due to excessively expensive municipal operating licenses, tourists and locals were left without beer in Progreso, Yucatan
After all the Six beer agencies.
Covid-19 in Yucatan: ”The pandemic is not over yet”, expert warns about summer vacations
The gradual rebound in Covid-19 infections.
IMSS Yucatan makes a public recognition to Nursing Staff
The Mexican Institute of Social Security.
Xcaret postpones the 14th edition of the Sacred Maya Journey
The return of the traditional Sacred.
A woman is crushed to death when a tree falls on top of her car on the Mérida-Valladolid highway
A strange accident happened on Thursday,.
With these local flowers, you help prevent the loss of bees in Yucatan
Every May 20, World Bee Day.
US government officials talk about UFOs publicly for the first time in 50 years
Two senior U.S. defense intelligence officials.
The US Embassy to invest 30 million USD in the “South of Mexico Generating Employment and Sustainability” program
In alliance with seven governments from.
Leave a Comment