The Uneven Impact of Inflation: A Breakdown of Price Changes Since February 2020
Despite cooling in July, US consumer prices have risen sharply since February 2020 due to a perfect storm of inflationary pressures, with the CPI-U increasing 20.9% compared to just 9.1% assuming the Fed's 2% target. Transportation prices have risen most steeply, up 30.4%, while education and communication have seen the smallest increases at 5.2%. Food, beverages and housing have also seen above-average price hikes of 25.2% and 23.7% respectively. While inflation may return to 2%, prices will remain elevated and the effects of the crisis will linger. Energy prices, when looked at separately, have seen the biggest increase of all at 30.4% since February 2020.
