Inflation Report: Americans paying nearly $500 more a month for the same things as prices skyrocket

ATLANTA — Wednesday’s inflation report shows the largest yearly increase since 1981.

Channel 2′s Jorge Estevez dug into the numbers as prices skyrocket.

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Overall, Americans are shelling out an extra $493 per month on the same goods, according to Moody’s Analytics, and the national average for the cost of rent is up 25.5% from a year ago.

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A one-bedroom apartment in the U.S. is averaging more than $1,700 a month.

Consumer prices surged 9.1% in June, according to the new report.

“Sadly, there is not a lot of relief to be found in this report,” Alex Christoforus with ABC News said. “This report, I think, shocked a lot of people, even the experts on Wall Street.”

Christoforus said that next month’s report will probably show a bit of easing because gas prices have come down.

“Remember, we are still in the middle of summer,” Christoforus said. “This is a high-demand driving season. So any big relief at the gas pump will probably be short-lived.”

Analysts said gas prices played a major factor in June’s spike. The Federal Reserve is expected to keep increasing interest rates to cool the economy and slow down inflation.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston talked with a leading professor at Georgia State about the one specific thing driving all of the costs higher.

He said high energy costs, for things like gas, jet fuel and oil, are driving prices up across the board.

Professor Rajeev Dhawan said that after COVID-19 lockdowns, everyone wanted to get out and travel, so oil prices went up. Then the war in Ukraine started.

“Unfortunately, we had a problem that the oil prices, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, went up sharply in January and February, and haven’t come down,” Dhawan said. “Ultimately (oil prices) feed into the prices of what they charge. Your trucking rates are higher, you airplane, freight, ticket prices are higher. That is inflation.”

Dhawan said we’ve made it through six months of inflation, but he predicts gas prices will stay high for the rest of the year. The only thing that will have an immediate effect on inflation is if there is an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and oil prices stabilize.

Inflation is hitting Atlanta harder than almost anywhere else

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