CNBC Host Steve Liesman explained on Tuesday that multiple sectors experienced price increases in January, hurting Americans’ pocketbooks.
Inflation went down in January year-over-year but exceeded expectations as the consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices of everyday goods like food and energy, increased 3.1% on an annual basis in January and 0.3% month-over-month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Liesman said medical costs, insurance and food prices went up in January. (RELATED: Americans Are In More Debt Than Ever Before — And It May Get Even Worse)
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“This issue we talked about at the beginning of the year, price increases, is something that drove inflation this time around,” Liesman said. “A lot of big increases in medical costs … medical care up 0.7, motor vehicle insurance up 1.4, hospitals up as well … You got a little relief from the used car world. You had food prices up. It was just a lousy month when it came to inflation. Of course, real earnings also declined in the month.”
Core CPI, which excludes energy and food, remained high, rising 3.9% year-over-year in January, compared to 3.9% in December. Used car prices decreased by 3.4% in January, according to the BLS data.
The cost of a typical Super Bowl party has soared since Biden took office, with prices increasing for items like snacks and streaming services. The index for food away from home, which includes restaurants, has risen 21.6% since January 2021 and 5.3% year-over-year, according to data from the BLS analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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