Inflation has cut into North Carolinians' purchasing power. | Adobe Stock
Inflation has cut into North Carolinians' purchasing power. | Adobe Stock
Inflation rose 8.5% for the month ending July 2022. While down slightly since June, Americans are still experiencing financial struggles, as prices for necessities continue to rise.
National year-over-year real average wage earnings are down 3.6%, causing further erosion to the average household income in North Carolina, which has seen a $3,014 year-over-year loss, bringing the state's current average household income down to $80,712 a year, a report said.
"It’s a sign of how far and fast inflation has risen this year that an increase in prices of 8.5% in July on an annual basis triggered a market rally on Wednesday,” the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote. “That’s down from 9.1% a month ago, and the trend is in the right direction, but one month’s respite is far from the end of this punishing inflation bout.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index data on Wednesday for the 12 months ending July 2022. The data showed an 8.5% all-items annual increase, which represents a 0.6% drop from last month. Some of the largest contributors were increases in the index for food, shelter and electricity.
The bureau also reported that real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 3%, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6% in the average workweek resulted in a 3.6% decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period.
President Joe Biden took to Twitter on Wednesday, boasting about 0% inflation for July. However, the WSJ Editorial Board points out, "the slowdown came largely from volatile energy prices, which had soared in June." Additionally, prices across most of the rest of the economy continued on their upward trend.
Food prices rose 1.1% in July and are up 10.9% over last year, bureau statistics show. Take-home grocery prices rose at an even faster rate at 1.3% for the month and 13.1% over the past 12 months. The index for shelter climbed 0.5% in the last month and 5.7% in the last year.
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