The United States still has an inflation problem: Prices have risen 3 percent in the past year, according to the latest data. It’s not the kind of hair-on-fire situation that Americans experienced in the summer of 2022 — remember 9 percent inflation? — but it still hurts. Prices for eggs and auto insurance have skyrocketed. Those for gasoline and other groceries are rising, too.
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This was supposed to be the year when inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. Instead, it is heading back up and will worsen if President Donald Trump keeps his promise to impose widespread tariffs. He took another step in that direction on Thursday with his proclamation that he will soon unleash reciprocal tariffs on many nations.
What’s going on in the economy now is whack-a-mole inflation — akin to the carnival game in which a mole pops up, the player pounds it down, and then another pops up somewhere else. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans have seen crazy price spikes — including for toilet paper, rental cars, used cars, gas, utilities and rent. For much of past year, rising rents were the big item. They are finally showing signs of cooling off, but many other things are suddenly getting pricier. This whack-a-mole inflation heightens Americans’ anxiety about what prices will soar next.
The price of eggs has surged 53 percent over a year ago, and auto insurance has shot up 12 percent. Whenever some particular thing pops, there’s always an explanation. The egg supply has been reduced by avian flu that has forced farmers to kill more than 40 million chickens. A big driver of the hot January inflation turned out to be goods prices rising again after months of trending downward. Meanwhile, the cost of auto insurance is rising in the wake of rapid increases in car prices and repairs, as well as a jump in the number of cars damaged during natural disasters.
Make sense of the latest news and debates with our daily newsletter
This was supposed to be the year when inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. Instead, it is heading back up and will worsen if President Donald Trump keeps his promise to impose widespread tariffs. He took another step in that direction on Thursday with his proclamation that he will soon unleash reciprocal tariffs on many nations.
What’s going on in the economy now is whack-a-mole inflation — akin to the carnival game in which a mole pops up, the player pounds it down, and then another pops up somewhere else. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans have seen crazy price spikes — including for toilet paper, rental cars, used cars, gas, utilities and rent. For much of past year, rising rents were the big item. They are finally showing signs of cooling off, but many other things are suddenly getting pricier. This whack-a-mole inflation heightens Americans’ anxiety about what prices will soar next.
The price of eggs has surged 53 percent over a year ago, and auto insurance has shot up 12 percent. Whenever some particular thing pops, there’s always an explanation. The egg supply has been reduced by avian flu that has forced farmers to kill more than 40 million chickens. A big driver of the hot January inflation turned out to be goods prices rising again after months of trending downward. Meanwhile, the cost of auto insurance is rising in the wake of rapid increases in car prices and repairs, as well as a jump in the number of cars damaged during natural disasters.
