The Homa Files

Topline: Overall CPI up 8.3% …  there’s devil in the details … and a couple of bright spots.
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Here are some of the essentials that we all face day-to-day:

> Food at home is up 13.5% … food at employee sites is up 23.7% <= another arrow in the quiver of employees who want to keep working from home

> Gasoline may be down about a buck from the mid-summer peak price ($5 per gallon) … but they’re still up $1.66 (68%) from Biden’s inauguration day ($2.42) and up 26% from a year ago. Source

> Electricity is up almost 15% from a year ago … as we head to the winter heating season.

> Housing is up 6% from a year ago. This is a component worth watching as appreciated values get reelected in lease renewal rental rates.

> New vehicles (cars & trucks) are up 10.1% … used cars are up 7.8% … motor vehicle repair costs are up over 10% … and, oh yeah, the average EV now costs over $60,000

> Vet services (and pet food) are up over 10%

OUCH!

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On the bright (err, “not so dreary”) side:

> Heathcare inflation has been relatively tame (up about 5%) … with “physician service” prices essentially flat year to year.

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And, a few more not-so-bad inflation trends that are underappreciated:

> Underwear, alcoholic beverages and cable TV are only up about 3% year to year.

Bottom line: if you want to mitigate inflationary pressures, the formula is obvious:  watch more cable TV, in your underwear, while slammin’ your favorite adult beverage.

If that doesn’t work, find some solace knowing eventually the inflationary pain will (pardon the pun) die away;

>Funeral services are only going up 2.6%.

Yipes!

This entry was posted on September 16, 2022 at 7:01 am and is filed under Bidenomics, inflation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.