Another month, another record for inflation, as consumer prices continued to spin higher in June, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), rising 9.1% in the largest increase since 1981.
Led by gas, shelter and food, inflation rose 9.1% year-over-year, passing May’s 8.6% jump and further pushing policymakers to address an issue that has become a top concern for economists as well as the average family across the country.
Though gas prices and oil have both been in decline recently, last month’s reading showed the largest single-month hike since March, up 11.2% from and 59.9% year-over-year. Food was also up 1% from May and 10.4% since last year, meaning shoppers and diners are still seeing their budgets strained.
So-called core inflation, which excludes energy and food as items that are often more volatile, was still up 5.9% year-over-year, meaning more slow moving-sectors such as shelter, medical care and clothing have continued to see prices increase.
The overall shelter index, which includes rent and owner-equivalent rent, saw its biggest annual jump since February of 1991, according to the BLS, up 5.6%. Rents rose 0.8% from May, the biggest single-month jump since 1986. The cost to furnish and maintain a home rose 9.5% year-over-year, and 0.4% for the month.
The National Association of REALTORS® recently saw its affordability index for housing hit its lowest level since 2006, down almost 40% from 2020.
Though falling oil and gas prices have offered some recent hope, the long-term solution to bringing down prices remains in the hands of the Federal Reserve bank and its chair Jerome Powell. After responding to another hotter than expected CPI report last month with a higher than anticipated 75-basis point rate hike, Powell has suggested either another 75-point increase or even 100 basis points is on the table for this month’s meeting.
