U.S. Inflation Rockets To 8.5% In March…That’s A 40-Year High

The numbers are out, and inflation jumped to 8.5% in March as Americans are now dealing with consumer price index numbers not seen since 1981.

The Labor Department revealed Tuesday that the CPI — which analyzes goods such as gasoline, health care, groceries and rents — was up 8.5% from a year ago, which is the fastest inflation pace since December 1981 when inflation was at 8.9%.

Where are these price increases coming from?

According to Fox Business, energy prices have crushed Americans with prices rising an incredible 11% in March from February 2022 and up over 32% from a year ago. And the price at the pump, which you already knew was a mess, is up 48% from last year and up 18.3% in March compared to February 2022.

Where Americans are seeing big inflation spikes:

Fuel oil 70%
Gas 48%
Used cars 35%
Hotels 29%
Airfare 24%
Utility gas 22%
Bacon 18%
Oranges 18%
Furniture 16%
Beef 16%
New cars 13%
Chicken 13%
Milk 13%
Appliances 12%
Fish 11%
Eggs 11%
Coffee 11%
Food at home 10%
Rent (OER) 4.5%

— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) April 12, 2022

Food is up 8.8% in the last year. Cereal and baked products are up 10%. Poultry, fish and meat are up 13.8%, fruits and vegetables are up 8.1% and eggs are up a staggering 11% compared to the same period in 2021.

If there’s any good news at all in the new numbers, it’s from the automobile market where used cars and trucks have actually started to come down on a month-by-month basis, but prices are still up 35% compared to last year.

Those who have received pay raises have seen that new money hammered by rising prices as workers go in for higher pay and employers pass off that off with higher prices.

“This can set off a wage-price spiral, something the nation last endured in the late 1960s and 1970s,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday as the CPI numbers were released.

Who is to blame here?

Biden? Well, you might be onto something there.

“Critics also blame, in part the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion March 2021 stimulus program, which included $1,400 relief checks for most households, for helping overheat an already sizzling economy,” the AP says.

BREAKING: Inflation soared over the past year at its fastest pace in more than 40 years, with costs for food, gas, housing and other items wiping out the pay raises that many people have received. The consumer price index jumped 8.5% in the past year. https://t.co/Lojxz9GHIh

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 12, 2022