OH Inflation Rate: Prices On Food, Energy Way Up In 2022

OHIO — Inflation is increasingly pinching Ohioans budgets, with the cost-of-living climbing much higher than wages, according to a new report.

The consumer price index, which measures the cost of core goods, climbed 7.5 percent in January over the year before, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. In the Midwest, the region that includes the Buckeye State, conditions are even worse — with the index climbing 7.9 percent in 12 months.

The biggest increases in costs came from food and energy, the report said. Midwest residents are paying 8 percent more for food than they did a year ago, while energy prices climbed a staggering 25 percent year-over-year, the report said. A gallon of gas is now 37 cents more expensive on average.

The report confirmed what everyday Americans already knew: Prices on everything from airfares to orange juice were going up faster than wages.

Inflation Hits Multiple Sectors

The price spikes were seen across sectors, not just for items directly affected by the pandemic. Electricity prices surged 4.2 percent in January alone, the sharpest rise in 15 years, and were up 10.7 percent from a year earlier. Last month, household furniture and supplies rose 1.6 percent over December, the largest one-month increase on record since 1967.

Food costs, driven by pricier eggs, cereal and dairy products, increased 0.9 percent in January. Air fares rose 2.3 percent last month, too. New car prices, which jumped during the pandemic because of a shortage of computer chips, were unchanged month to month but were up 12.2 percent over a year ago. The surge in new car prices accelerated prices for used cars: They rose 1.5 percent in January over December and were up a dizzying 41 percent over a year ago.

"Just as price pressures in some areas ease, inflation in other parts of the economy" picked up, said Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo. "The upshot is that inflation is likely to remain uncomfortably high."

The steady rise in prices left many Americans less able to afford food, gas, rent, child care and other necessities. More broadly, inflation emerged as the biggest risk factor for the economy and a serious threat to President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats as midterm elections loom later this year.

In the past year, sharp increases in the costs of gas, food, autos and furniture upended many other Americans' budgets. In December, economists at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School estimated that the average household had to spend $3,500 more than in 2020 to buy an identical basket of goods and services.

Many large corporations, in conference calls with investors, said they expected supply shortages to persist until at least the second half of the year. Companies from Chipotle to Levi Strauss & Co. also warned that they will likely raise prices again this year after having done so in 2021.

Chipotle said it increased menu prices 10 percent to offset the rising costs of beef and transportation as well as higher employee wages. And the restaurant chain said it will consider further price increases if inflation keeps rising.

"We keep thinking that beef is going to level up and then go down, and it just hasn't happened yet," said John Hartung, the company's chief financial officer.

Executives at Starbucks and other consumer-facing companies said their customers so far don't seem fazed by the higher prices.

Levi Strauss & Co. raised prices last year by roughly 7 percent above 2019 levels because of rising costs, including labor. It plans to do so again this year. Even so, the San Francisco-based company upgraded its sales forecasts for 2022.

"Right now, every signal we're seeing is positive," CEO Chip Bergh told analysts.