PHOENIX — Both the national and local inflation rates are down.
According to the Labor Department, the seasonally adjusted rate fell to 6% in February, the 7th straight month where inflation either declined or remained unchanged.
This is a stark change from the beginning of 2021 when the inflation rate began to take off.
In February 2021, U.S. inflation was recorded at 1.7%.
In the span of a year, the rate climbed to 8% and reached a peak in June 2022 at 8.9%.
Today’s reported rate is 33% down from that peak.
The core inflation rate, which excludes more volatile measures like food and energy, held steady at 5.5% from January to February.
Surging energy prices were a major contributor to last year’s rising inflation rates, and as energy prices stabilize the two measures are closer to aligning with one another.
The inflation rate for the Phoenix metro is updated by the Labor Department every other month.
Inflation fell in the Valley a full point from 9.5% to 8.5% from December to February.
Phoenix has the second highest rate of any metro behind Tampa, Florida, but since the cities are updated on different months expect Tampa to move below Phoenix in the April Consumer Price Index update.
Factors driving inflation in Phoenix include, first and foremost, the 14.1% rise in rent and housing.
Food and beverage prices rose 9.8% compared to last February. Services, which include categories such as laundry cleaning and legal assistance, increased by almost 12%.
Not every measure increased.
Used cars and vehicles continued their double-digit decline with a 13.1% decrease.
Gasoline, which is given a lot of weight on the overall measure, was down in Phoenix by almost 5%. Energy items like utility gas and electricity fell 2.2%.
A big concern about inflation is how much it impacts real wages.
The Labor Department reported that wages are not keeping up. Real wages, a calculation of wage growth adjusted for inflation, is still in the negative with Americans on average earning 2% less than they did last year.
