Consumer Prices in the US Continue to Rise

[May 27, 2008.]

 

Last month, as the prices in clothing goods continued to drop to the lowest they've been in almost a decade, the prices of consumer goods, such as food, energy, and tickets for airline services climbed ever higher.

Consumer prices rose an estimated .03% over what they were in February, a month where prices went unchanged, according to the reports given by the US Labor Department.

Core inflation, a measure of inflation that excludes the cost of energy and food resources, was recognized as having gone up by .02% in March. Economic analysts were not surprised by this outcome, seeing as how their predictions included these changes.

Inflation all together has risen by 4% over the past 12 months, an issue that reflects the tireless gains in the cost of energy, a particularly volatile aspect of the economy that has gone up 17% over the same period of time. Likewise, the cost of food has also increased, which has risen by 4.4%.

Perhaps the harshest results of these figures can be seen in individual food items, such as bread, whose price has went up 14.7% over 2007, and milk, which has seen an increase of 13.3% in the same time frame.

It almost goes without saying that the cost of basic items such as food and gas has left the American population at large feeling very burdened, particularly when a stagnating economy is causing unemployment to rise, which soared above 5% last month.

President Bush believes that the economy will rebound come this summer when over 130 million individuals and families receive their economic stimulus checks, although economists remain skeptical, believing that the economy is in a full-blown recession.

Despite the gloomy circumstances, the Federal Reserve has been working hard to cut interest rates and throw billions of dollars into the nation's banking system in order to fight against the credit crunch that is affecting millions. Also, many leading experts in the financial marketplaces believe that the Fed will continue to cut rates throughout the year, a move that has some hopeful for an economic rebound.