November 27 2023
Bloomberg News: After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades — even as the pace of price increases has slowed.
It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.
It’s hard to find an area of a household budget that’s been spared: Groceries are up 25% since January 2020. Same with electricity. Used-car prices have climbed 35%, auto insurance 33% and rents roughly 20%.
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Consumers’ frustration with prices and elevated borrowing costs could help decide whether President Joe Biden wins a second term: Four in 10 swing-state voters in a recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll said the economy was their top issue in the 2024 presidential election.
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In October 2020, a Census Bureau survey showed a four-person household spent an average of $238.32 in a week on food at home. Three years later, a similar survey showed that figure had jumped to $315.22 — roughly 32% more.
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Americans haven’t gotten any respite from their other bills either. Electricity bills have climbed 25% since January 2020, and natural gas is up 29% in the same time period.