Gas Isn't The Only Thing Getting More Expensive In NYC

NEW YORK CITY — There’s been a big jump at the gas pump lately in New York City, but it's not just filling up a tank that's hitting residents in the pocket. Essential items such as food, furniture and clothes have all gone up in price, according to federal statistics.

Fuel prices have spiked due, in large part, to high crude oil prices, analysts say. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price of a gallon of regular gas in NYC Monday was $3.47 — up seven cents from a week ago.

A year ago, it was $2.27.

The increase could be causing a ripple effect for other essential goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Food prices in the New York, Newark and Jersey City area rose 5.5 percent over the past year, including a 9 percent hike for meats, poultry, fish and eggs.

Prices for “food at home” grew by 4.6 percent. Prices for “food away from home,” including at restaurants, increased 6.6 percent — the largest annual increase since February 1987.

Heating and cooling homes is also getting more expensive, officials said. Household energy prices have increased by 10.7 percent since last year, the fastest pace in more than four years. Natural gas prices were 16 percent higher, and electricity prices were up 5.6 percent.

Other yearly price hikes in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area included:

• Higher prices for shelter (1.2 percent) included an increase in owners’ equivalent rent (1.2 percent)
• Prices for household furnishings and operations were up 8.7 percent over the year
• Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (13 percent) included jumps in the new vehicle market (12.6 percent) as well as used cars and trucks (25 percent)
• Prices for alcoholic beverages rose by 1.9 percent
• Prices for “apparel” rose by 4 percent

The New York-Newark-Jersey City area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York. It includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties in New Jersey, and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Nationwide, the CPI for all items increased by 0.4 percent in September.

However, the real average hourly earnings for all employees went up only 0.2 percent, officials noted.

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With reporting by Eric Keifer/Patch