Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the overall price per person in the United States has risen by more than 20%, with the cost of many goods and services surging to unreasonable levels.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation data report for March indicates that the widely predicted price increase is 3.5%, up from 3.2% in February.
Over the past 12 months, there have been significant jumps in prices, including a 22.2% increase in automobile insurance, a 10.9% increase in domestic cleaning services, a 9.9% increase in infant and toddler food, and an 8.3% increase in outpatient medical care prices.
Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate, stated: “There is no improvement here; we are moving in the wrong direction.”
Wages for Americans are barely keeping pace with the rise in prices. Although the federal stimulus measures at the onset of the pandemic provided a cash cushion during the worst times, there is a growing consensus that this cushion, by giving people money to spend, has driven up prices.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics available online, the impact of inflation has resulted in Americans’ average hourly wages rising by only a few cents compared to the start of the pandemic.
There are signs that consumer unease is intensifying. A report from the New York Fed on Monday stated that concerns about unemployment are growing, with unemployed workers indicating that finding a job is more difficult now than before the pandemic. About one-third of people say their family’s financial situation is worse.
All of this contributes to an unstable situation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell referred to the economic outlook as “still quite uncertain” in a speech he gave last week.