Inflation is on the rise for the second month in a row, according to the August Inflation Report

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Inflation climbed for the second month in a row, according to the month of August’s Consumer Price Index report released Wednesday. The CPI says the reason for the increase is rising gas prices.

“How am I going to do that? I can’t afford that,” says Greenville resident, Jacqueline Gay.

ECU Economics Professor, Nicholas Rupp, says the increase is also affecting travel.

“The higher gas prices also reverberate in the economy with higher airline prices as well. Prices are rising. Consumer prices are going up and this is both the overall Consumer Price Index and what they call the Core Price Index as well,” Rupp told WITN.

The report shows an increase of 3.7% from August 2022, leaving food and energy costs rising 4.3%.

Greenville resident, Kimberly Dane says, “I can’t even eat barley. It all depends on what you want. Steak is non-existent to me anymore. Eggs, sometimes. Milk, sometimes.”

Groceries aren’t the only items on the rise as insurance prices soared 2.4%.

“They told me I have to pay $300 and something for insurance. It’s a choice between my medicine or food,” Gay says.

Though inflation is on the rise, Rupp says there is also some encouraging data from the report. “But it’s not all bad news. There are some sectors that had declining prices including used car prices have dropped and also including furniture prices.”

Due to the high inflation and core inflation number, Rupp told WITN that next month may also show an increase. “The Federal Reserve is likely to respond so don’t be surprised if you see next month, an increase in the interest rates for the Federal Reserve.”

A report from the Census Bureau Tuesday also showed that the inflation-adjusted income for a typical household dropped 2.3% last year.

Due to the August report, United States economists are also saying that prices are “sticky enough to have another rate hike this year.”

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