Inflation reached a four-decade high in January, driven by price hikes across a range of products and services, including cars, gasoline and groceries, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
SO WHAT
Life is getting more and more expensive for most Americans.
WHAT THE DATA SAYS
The average U.S. household is spending an additional $276 a month because of inflation that is rising at its fastest rate since 1982, a new economic analysis showed.
“A lot of people are hurting because of high inflation. $276 a month—that’s a big burden,” Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics who conducted the analysis, told the Wall Street Journal.
Another study featured in the Journal’s report, and conducted by Wells Fargo economists, broke out the impact of inflation on different groups of Americans, and found the hardest hit included:
- Middle-class households,
- Hispanic households,
- And people aged 35-44.