Consumer Prices Rise Faster Than Wages In Bay Area, Feds Report

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — Living expenses outpaced wages over the 12 months ending in June in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area, federal officials announced Wednesday. Wages grew by 3 percent while living expenses jumped 3.2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Consumer prices were up an average of 1.6 percent nationwide and 2.7 percent in the West, defined as California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 3.2-percent jump in consumer prices in the Bay Area were second highest in California trailing only the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area where prices were up 3.3 percent.

The cost for tuition, school fees and childcare in the Bay Area was up 10.3 percent between June 2018 and June 2019, outpacing the cost of all other goods.

Food prices rose by 5.1 percent, housing expenses were up by 2.8 percent, medical care costs increased by 5.4 percent and clothing prices jumped 7.5 percent in the same period.

— Bay City News Service