According to the latest data from the Labor Department, prices on almost everything continue to rise on both a monthly and annual basis.
In January, inflation hit 6.4%, which is half a point higher than it was in December and more than analysts were expecting.
ABC15 took a look at the year-over-year change and inflation did come down slightly from 6.5% in December.
This was just under three points below the inflation high in June of last year. The core inflation rate, which includes all items except food and energy, is lower at 5.6%.
The biggest drivers of inflation included shelter, along with a combination of rent and mortgage costs, which rose 7.9%.
Food items were up 10.1% and energy, which includes gasoline, was up 8.7%.
Energy services such as electricity and piped gas increased by 15.6% compared to last January.
A noticeable difference when purchasing a vehicle, the cost for new vehicles rose 5.8%, while used cars and trucks were down 11.6%. Used vehicles were the only item tracked by the Labor Department to see an annual decrease in cost.
Inflation in Phoenix was not updated this month, but new numbers for Tampa, Florida, are a good indicator of where Arizona’s largest metro may be headed.
In the fall of last year, Phoenix had the highest inflation rate in the country.
In this last update, inflation in Tampa fell to under 9% in January.
High inflation is having an impact on real wages. Hourly earnings are down both monthly and annually, but average real weekly earnings are up slightly compared to last month. The reason for this is average weekly hours worked by Americans rose 0.9% compared to December, and 0.3% for the year.
In summary, Americans are working more to keep their wages in line with inflation, and everything except for used cars or trucks will have them shelling out more money.
