Prices Hit 40-Year High: See Inflation Rates In Maryland

MARYLAND — Consumer prices nationwide have risen 6.8 percent over a 12-month period — the largest increase since the period ending in June 1982 — and Maryland has not been spared from the inflation, data shows.

From October 2020 to October 2021, prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson geographic region increased by 6.3 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. From August to October 2021 alone, prices rose 2.3 percent, the bureau found.

Inflation jumped to the highest level in nearly 40 years, that data released Friday showed, as supply chain disruptions, consumer demand and rising housing costs boosted prices in the Washington, D.C., area and across the nation.

While costs increased across the board, prices for gas, food, used and new cars were the major contributors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gas prices nationwide have surged over 58 percent — the largest increase since 1980 — and food prices are up 6.1 percent in November over the past year.

Monthly price increases — the change between October and November, rather than over the past year — did moderate somewhat, but still rose at a rapid pace.

Current inflation has been spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has upset the workforce and supply chains, along with stimulus measures that increased demand for goods.

Here's a look at how the costs of consumer goods have risen in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne's counties) from November 2020 to November 2021:

Food and beverages

Costs for "food at home" — groceries such as cereal, meats, produce, eggs, dairy and nonalcoholic beverages — rose 6.3 percent.

Gas and transit

Gasoline prices are up by 50.5 percent.

Housing

"Shelter" costs rose by 3.2 percent. Rent of primary residence has gone up by 1.4 percent, while household energy costs are 12.3 percent higher.

Some workers will likely have trouble keeping up with the rising costs, as the Associated Press reported that after accounting for inflation, average hourly wages in the United States fell by 2.4 percent compared to November 2020.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting company Grant Thornton LLC, told The Washington Post the rising prices are a cause for concern.

"Yes, inflation can abate, but what [policymakers] care about is, is it significant or insignificant to peoples' lives and decision-making?" Swonk said. "This is inflation that's not likely to be insignificant anytime soon, and that's a problem."

About half of the month-over-month increase in the consumer price index was due to price increases in cars and energy, The Washington Post reported Friday. The energy index was up 3.5 percent in November. Recent moves by the Biden administration intended to bring prices down at the pump were not reflected in Friday's data.

The federal data showed that "food at home," primarily groceries, was up 6.4 percent in the past year, and that "food away from home" climbed 5.8 percent nationally.

As housing and other day-to-day costs rise, workers may begin to seek higher wages to help offset the increase in consumer items and rent. Climbing wages can feed into inflation as companies pass rising labor costs on to consumers, and as bigger paychecks help households to keep spending, sustaining consumer demand, the New York Times noted.

Price increases in the D.C. area were lower than the national average. Food prices increased by 5.6 percent in the area from a year ago, compared to a national increase of 6.1 percent.

Some economists are holding out hope that inflation will peak in the coming months and then gradually ease and provide some relief for consumers. They note that supply shortages in some industries have begun to gradually ease. And while higher energy costs will continue to burden consumers in the coming months, Americans will likely be spared from earlier forecasts that energy prices would reach record highs over the winter.