Inflation throughout the Riverside metropolitan area climbed .6% over the previous two months, largely driven by rising energy and food costs, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The agency’s bimonthly report, which covers northwestern Riverside County as well as the cities of Ontario and San Bernardino, indicated that the metro area’s Consumer Price Index continued the upward trajectory that began in March, following a relatively flat CPI near the start of the year.
BLS officials said the energy sector was the principal driver of pocketbook pressure from the beginning of April to the end of May, registering an overall increase of 1.6%. Gasoline prices jumped 5%, chiefly accounting for the upsurge, even while electricity and natural gas prices softened.
Food prices as a whole shot up 1.3%, “with higher prices in four of six grocery categories” calculated in the CPI, according to the BLS.
Property rents also went up, reflected in the index’s “shelter costs,” which increased .7% over the two-month period.
Prices declined for recreational activities, apparel, household furnishings and motor vehicles.
Longer term, the regional CPI was 4% higher over the previous 12 months, with rents leading the advance at 7.4%, according to data.
Health care costs were close behind at 7.3%, while energy prices jumped 5.8%, led by electricity costs, which leapt 9% year-over-year. Petrol prices were 6.9% higher in the 12-month period.
The report showed that, nationally, inflation was unchanged last month, and 3.3% from May 2023 to May 2024.
The current rate of inflation reflects the elevated price trajectory impacting most sectors of the economy. Accelerating consumer price hikes have been blamed by the Biden administration on the war in Ukraine and consequent energy supply disruptions, but critics have pointed to what they call the administration’s restrictive domestic energy policies, as well as excessive spending, including the flood of dollars contained in relief packages, as root causes.
The national debt is at $34.7 trillion, after passing $33 trillion nine months ago, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Estimated annualized interest rate payments on the country’s debt passed the $1 trillion mark in November, according to Bloomberg News. That same month, Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.S. credit rating from “stable” to “negative.”
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee started gradually increasing its benchmark, or target, lending rate in spring 2022, though the FOMC suspended hikes beginning last summer, leaving the rate at roughly 5.5% on the belief that the pace of inflation had slowed satisfactorily.
The hikes were an attempt to soak up excess liquidity and slow spending.