Prices are up nearly 19% across the board since President Joe Biden entered office, meaning households are suffering sticker shock even if the inflation rate has moderated in recent months.
Inflation, as tracked by the consumer price index, rose to 3.5% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Overall, the index is up 18.9% since January of 2021.
Over the past three years, inflation has torn through the economy, peaking at a 9% annual rate in June 2022, and consumers have expressed dissatisfaction.
Since the month Biden entered office, electricity prices have soared by more than 29% (although only 5% in the past year), and the price of piped gas has risen nearly 30%, making utility bills more expensive, according to the CPI.
Household goods and food staples have also gone up in price considerably. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs are up 21.4%, while fruits and vegetables now cost 14.4% more than in January 2021. The public is particularly sensitive to prices at the grocery store because people encounter them on a regular basis.
During the pandemic, many people adopted dogs and cats, and now voters are also finding it more expensive to care for those animals as prices for pet food have risen 23.7%. Clothing prices have increased by nearly 10% in the past three years or so, and people are on average paying over 20% more on their monthly rent than they were pre-Biden.
Read more at Washingtonexaminer.com
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