Household budgets suffered another blow in August as the annual inflation rate rose for the second month in a row, new figures were revealed today.
The annual rate is now hovering at 3.7 percent – after falling to a low of 3 percent in June. And that remains well above the Fed’s 2% target.
But analysts say the rise is driven by a select few commodities, such as gasoline and housing, which are notoriously volatile, while the majority of prices have remained stable.
DailyMail.com analyzed data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to reveal where costs are rising and falling fastest.
As spending on fuel and car insurance soared, prices for used vehicles fell 1.2 percent.
Between July and August, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the cost of gas increased significantly, by 10.6 percent. While the cost of fuel and car insurance increased last month, the cost of a used car decreased.
And gasoline rose 10.6 percent between June and July – the biggest increase in more than a year. Experts said gas was a key driver of inflation in August, although costs remained lower than last year.
Domestic and international commercial airline fares, which had been declining since March, increased 4.9 percent.
Car insurance prices rose another 4.9 percent between June and July, the 20th consecutive monthly increase.
Housing – which includes rent and the cost of maintaining a home – increased by a relatively small rate of 0.3 percent, the 40th consecutive monthly increase.
While food as a whole increased by 0.2 percent between July and August, dairy products and bread were 0.4 and 0.8 percent cheaper, respectively. However, the price of meat increased by 1 percent.
A resurgence in the price of crude would be one of the causes, as well as refining problems that occurred earlier this summer. At the same time, gasoline demand has returned to levels well above those of last summer, leaving national inventories well below seasonal norms.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline stands at $3,811, surpassing fuel costs by three cents compared to the same time last year.
Televisions were the electronics whose price fell the most, down 2.7 percent.
Between August 2022 and August 2023, the overall cost of consumer goods was 3.7% higher.
While the price of gas was a major source of inflation between July and August, it has fallen by around 3.3 percent since last year. Airfares are also down on an annual basis from pandemic highs.
Bread, housing and housing are all more expensive than last year.
The most recent gas price increases were caused in part by reductions in oil supplies from Russia and Saudi Arabia and by hot weather in the United States, which hurt production at many refineries .
In July, Russia pledged to cut exports by 500,000 barrels per day.
But prices remain well below the average peak of $5 reached in June 2022, about four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This time last summer, the national average was $4.28 per gallon.
President Joe Biden (pictured Monday) said in a statement Wednesday morning after the release of inflation data that the future health of the U.S. economy was promising.
Since last year, the price of gas has fallen by around 3.3 percent. Bread, housing and housing are all more expensive than last year
And experts predict that volatile energy prices will do little to slow inflation in the coming months.
“The pass-through effect of energy prices on core inflation is small, compared to the downward flow we see in other regions,” Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo, told CNN .
President Joe Biden said in a statement Wednesday morning after the release of inflation data that the future health of the U.S. economy was promising.
“Today’s report provides further evidence that core inflation is trending downward toward pre-pandemic levels at a time when employment remains strong,” the statement read.
