Get Pumped 2 Pay Mo 4 Food, Rent, Light

Worst news in latest CPI inflation numbers involved rising costs for food, housing & energy. While gas for cars may be tanking, renting an apartment or putting dinner on the table rose 2b digits as electric & heating bills skyrocketed.

Warning alert for those with weak stomachs: According to the Labor Dept, groceries now cost 13.6% more than a year ago (that’s fastest pace since 1979). Cereals & bakery is up 16.4%, dairy 16.2%, and some other categories as high as 40%. Meanwhile, although new home sales are plunging, apt rents and all other forms of shelter are up 6.2%. But, perhaps the least publicized, notes the WSJ, is the fact that electricity and some heating costs are seeing “the largest increase in at least 41 years” as winter approaches.

It's not as if the US businesses and homeowners have to deal with Putin’s shutting off its natural gas pipeline to the EU. But, the WSJ drew attention to their rising energy costs that come close to offsetting any relief they are getting recently at the pump. For instance, the cost for “electricity in August climbed 15.7% over the same month a year ago, the biggest such 12-month increase since 1981. Is it a wonder that “one out of six US families have fallen behind on utility bills and owe a collective $16 billion”?

Davd Soul