Household budgets suffered another blow in August as the rate of annual inflation ticked up for the second month in a row, new figures revealed today.
The annual rate is now hovering at 3.7 percent – after falling to a low of 3 percent in June. And it remains well above the Fed‘s target of 2 percent.
But analysts say the spike is due to a select few items such as gas and shelter, which are notoriously volatile, while the majority of prices remained steady.
DailyMail.com analyzed data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to reveal where costs are rising and falling fastest.
While the expense of fueling and insuring a car shot up, price tags for used vehicles declined by 1.2 percent.
Between July and August, seasonally adjusted, the cost of gas increased by a significant 10.6 percent. While the cost of fueling and insuring a car went up last month, the cost of a used one went down
And gasoline increased 10.6 percent between June and July – the largest jump in over a year. Experts said gas was one of the biggest drivers of inflation in August, though costs remained lower than last year.
Domestic and international commercial airline fares, which had been decreasing since March, rose 4.9 percent.
Motor insurance shot up in price again by 4.9 percent between June and July, the 20th consecutive monthly increase.
Shelter – which includes rent and the cost of maintaining a house – rose by a comparably small 0.3 percent, the 40th consecutive monthly increase.
While food as a whole was up by 0.2 percent between July and August, dairy products and bread were 0.4 and 0.8 percent cheaper respectively. However, the cost of meat was up 1 percent.
A resurgence in the cost of of crude is believed to be one of the causes, as well as refinery issues arrived at earlier in the summer. At the same time, gasoline demand ballooned back to levels well above those last summer, leaving national stockpiles largely below seasonal norms
The national average for a gallon of gasoline stands at $3.811, topping fuel costs from this time last year by three cents
Televisions stood out as electronic appliances to have decreased most in price, down 2.7 percent.
Between August 2022 and August 2023, the overall cost of consumer items was 3.7 percent higher.
While the cost of gas was a major source of inflation between July and August, since last year it has decreased by around 3.3 percent. Airline fares are also down on an annual basis from pandemic highs.
Bread, housing and shelter are all more expensive than they were last year.
The most recent gas price highs have been caused in part by cuts to oil supply by Russia and Saudi Arabia and hot weather in the US, which has harmed the output of many refineries.
In July, Russia vowed to take 500,000 barrels a day off its exports.
But prices are still well down from the peak average of $5 in June 2022 – around four months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This time last summer the national average was $4.28 per gallon.
President Joe Biden (pictured on Monday) said in a statement on Wednesday morning after the release of the inflation data that the future health of the US economy was promising
Since last year the cost of gas has decreased by around 3.3 percent. Bread, housing and shelter are all more expensive than they were last year
And experts predict that volatile energy prices will not curb a slowdown of inflation in the coming months.
‘The pass-through effect from energy prices to core inflation is small, relative to the downdraft that we’re seeing from other areas,’ Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo, told CNN.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Wednesday morning after the release of the inflation data that the future health of the US economy was promising.
‘Today’s report provides more evidence that core inflation is trending down toward pre-pandemic levels at a time when employment remains strong,’ read the statement.