Consumer Blues

Posted In: Consumer Prices, Consumers, Inflation, U.S. Government

Who HASN’T noticed escalating prices these days? Judging from recent purchases, from flowers for my girlfriend to car washes to movie tickets, it’s pretty apparent to me, at least, that the cost of living is on the rise. According to Reuters’ Herbert Lash and Richard Leong this morning:

Consumer prices jumped at the sharpest rate in more than a quarter century during June, and consumers coping with soaring costs received their smallest income gain in a year, the government said on Monday.

The Commerce Department said personal incomes edged up 0.1 percent after rising 1.8 percent in May. June’s rise was the smallest since April 2007, when income was flat.

On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 4.1 percent in June, up from 3.5 percent in May, for the biggest annual gain since May 1991.

An inflation gauge tied to consumer spending jumped 0.8 percent in June, its steepest gain since a 1 percent rise more than 27 years ago, in February 1981.

Source: bobmccarty.com

Source:

“June inflation jumps, incomes barely rise”
Herbert Lash, Richard Leong
Reuters, August 4, 2008

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