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SCORCHING: Inflation Hits New High at 8.6% in May, Worse than Expected

Americans feeling like their money didn’t go far in May weren’t just imagining it as inflation pushed higher than economists expected last month.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published the May 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) Friday which came in at 8.6% – a number not seen since 1981. The troubling figure comes in higher than expert estimates of 8.3% who had expected inflation levels to remain even with April. Even worse, price increases were seen across all major categories: shelter, gasoline, and food.

In May, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 1.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 8.6 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent in May (SA); up 6.0 percent over the year (NSA).

Grocery prices grew at a budget-busting 10.1% from last May and eating out became 11.9% more expensive than last year. Meat, fish, and egg prices rose 14.2% with eggs moving 32.2% higher. Fruits and vegetables saw more modest increases at 8.2%. But the real bad news came in the gasoline and energy numbers. Gasoline, BLS reported, increased by 50% over the last year, and fuel oil more than doubled with a whopping 106.7% jump.

The latest CPI figure will likely push the Federal Reserve to continue raising rates which experts believe could lead to a recession. The U.S. economy shrank by 1.4% in the first quarter.

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Carl Fox

Carl Fox is the senior money and finance writer for Conservative Daily News. Follow him in the "Money & The Economy" section at CDN and see his posts on the "Junior Economists" Facebook page.

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2 Comments

  1. The day democrat SCUM stole the election in 2020, I pulled every cent of equities out of my IRAs and 401ks and put it into energy, utilities, gold, silver and uranium as well as a few high-dividend value stocks. I told my wife to buy whatever gold, platinum and silver jewelry that she liked with the cash we were holding and we’ve been investing in fine art. One painting (Stillife by Aloise Zabehlicky) purchased on Goodwill online auction for $7.50 + $21.50 fedex shipping sold on eBay for $1627. If you’re in your 20s-40s, don’t pull out and take a loss because you have plenty of time. If you’re nearing 70 like me, you can’t wait for a recovery and must get creative to keep what you have. Farm land, real estate, metals, fine art and other collectibles.

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