Inflation Has Reached a 40-Year High, Looks to Be Getting Higher

Food and commodity prices are skyrocketing and have done so, since Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

Inflation has reached a 40 year high and the world suffers from supply chain disruptions due to civil and now the Russia-Ukraine war is straining this further.

Fox Business reported:

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index – which measures a bevy of goods including gasoline, health care, groceries and rents – rose 8.5% in March from a year ago, the fastest pace since December 1981, when inflation hit 8.9%. Prices jumped 1.2% in the one-month period from February, the largest month-to-month jump since 2005.

Economists expected the index to show that prices surged 8.4% in March from the previous year and 1.2% on a monthly basis. 

So-called core prices, which exclude more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 6.5% in March from the previous year – up from the 6.4% increase recorded in February. It was the steepest 12-month increase since August 1982.

Price increases were widespread: Energy prices rose a stunning 11% in March from the previous month, and are up 32% from last year. Gasoline, on average, costs 48% more than it did last year after rising 18.3% in March on a monthly basis as the Russian war in Ukraine fueled a rapid increase in oil prices. 

The March inflation data is the first to capture the full effect of the European war, which sent gas prices in the U.S. to the highest since 2008. 

Food prices have also climbed 8.8% higher over the year and 1% over the month, with the largest increases in cereal and bakery products (10%), poultry, fish and meat (13.8%), fresh fruits and vegetables (8.1%), and eggs (11.2%). 

Used car and truck prices, which have been a major component of the inflation increase, are still up 35.3% from the previous year, but actually declined by 1.8% in the one-month period between February and March. Shelter costs are up 5% year over year and jumped 0.6% for the month.

Biden’s approval rating is in the toilet as consumer prices continue to rise – of course, it’s everybody else’s fault, according to the White House.

Reality is, Biden shut down vital energy needs to keep America independent. Biden also exacerbated the situation in Ukraine – Trump was right when he said something like that wouldn’t have happened under his watch.

Wage gains are being eaten up by the rising costs of living and the Federal Reserve has raised rates by 0.25 percent and may raise rates again in May.

“Many participants noted that one or more [0.5-point] increases in the target range could be appropriate at future meetings, particularly if inflation pressures remained elevated or intensified,” the Fed minutes from its March meeting said.

Chairman Jerome Powell has dismissed claims that further tightening by the central bank will trigger a recession.

“The probability of a recession in the next year is not particularly elevated,” Powell told reporters during the Fed’s March meeting. “All signs are that this is a strong economy and one that will be able to flourish in the face of less accommodative monetary policy.”