FINANCE
Inflation rose 0.3 percent in April: What this means for you and your budget
Inflation rose 0.3 percent in April, meaning that prices have risen on average 1.4 percent this year. What you need to know.
Once again, households in the United States had their purchasing power stretched even further. Over the last year, prices have increased 3.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. In April alone, inflation increased 0.3 percent, compared to the previous February and March, where prices rose on average 0.4 percent in both cases. The fact that the increases were concentrated in the housing and gasoline sectors provides little relief to consumers as they are goods that millions purchase each month. These two categories represented seventy percent of the 0.3 percent increase tracked by the CPI last month.
What this means for your budget
Housing, which has been cited as a major driver of inflation over the last year, continued to increase, rising 0.4 in April for a year-over-year average increase of 5.5 percent. The situation is primarily difficult for renters, with the prices for leases increasing 5.4 percent over the last twelve months and 1.7 percent already this year. Rents are up 14.6 percent over the last two years, highlighting the tremendous pressure renters are under as prices continue to rise.
Gasoline prices rose 2.8 percent in April. In March, prices rose by 1.7 percent, following a 3.8 percent increase in February. This news may cause some families to evaluate their summer plans as gas prices are already rising in the summer months, where prices tend to trend upward as people hit the road for their vacations. Typically, gas prices rise during this time as families hit the road for vacation.
What the report means for your trip to the grocery store
Though grocery prices have risen on average 1.1 percent over the last year, the BLS did not record any increases in February and March. These trends continued in April, with the BLS reporting a decrease of 0.2 percent. However, there are a few food groups that saw increases: cereals and bakery products saw an increase of 0.6 percent, and dairy and related products rose 0.1 percent.