WACO, TX — Another increase this week in the consumer price index across the south, ticking up point 9%. Still, it’s up close to 6% over the past year.
“It’s tough out here, you know everything’s going up other than our pay," Waco resident Michael Hamilton said.
If you ask a person if inflation is occurring, or if it concerns them, you may get a mixed response.
“What’s your definition of inflation I guess you have to start there,” Business manager and Waco resident Derek Smith said.
Start with asking people if they’re seeing a rising price, at concerning levels, well you get to the point.
“At the end of last year I was looking for a three-bedroom, two-bath, and I was finding some for $900 to $950 a month.”
From supply chain chokeholds, placing what Waco resident Michael Hamilton describes as a pernicious price tag on housing.
"And now the cheapest I can find is $1,200 to $1,250 and some of them aren’t even in the nice part of the neighborhood.”
Other price tags with higher dollar figures than last year include new, used, and rental automobiles, raw materials, oil, lumber and even groceries.
"Yes, and I would say every mom I’m friends with, we’ve been talking about our grocery budget," mother of two, Jessie Hunter said. “I’ve been feeling like I need to reign in grocery shopping. We try to buy organic when we can. We buy fresh fruit, fresh produce, but my grocery budget has grown from $150 a week to $250 a week for my family of four.”
Maybe some good news is on the horizon.
“There’s other things that have gone down legitimately," Business Manager and Waco resident Derek Smith said.
We finally see stabilization in the price of materials perhaps most notorious for the recent booming cost, lumber.
“Futures are coming down, lumber price is coming down,"
Smith said he's cautiously optimistic the price perils of today won’t be as bad tomorrow but prediction, there’s a lot of people wishing we could tell the future.
"It’s so fickle, we don’t know if the governments going to kick the can down the road longer," he said. "I mean everybody’s hedging their bets right now."
Until then the fed and white house have tamped down the price problems as only temporary, other financial experts have encouraged consumers to bear down.
