Friday, August 19, 2011  Price Increases  A quick look at the
news is enough to get anyone depressed.  Now there's one more
item to worry about: price increases.  As we noted yesterday,
the Consumer Price Index, which measures the price of basic
necessities like food, clothing and gas, rose .5% in July, a
higher than expected number.  That price hike was largely driven
by an increase in gas prices, which rose 4.7%.  However, gas is
far from the only item rising.  Fresh fruits & vegetables rose
6.9% compared to the same time last year, its highest increase
in three years.  Cotton prices have jumped between 10-15%,
causing higher prices on clothing.  Of course, this is all at
the same time that unemployment remains high and the housing
market remains stuck.  Inflation, however, does not appear to be
an immediate concern.  The core-CPI, which removes some of
the volatility from this measure, remains at 1.8%, and below 2%
is enough to stave off serious inflation.  1 comment:  Jon
Geeting said...  I would imagine