On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its latest Consumer Price Index for the month of March, and it's even worse than economists had predicted. At a reported 8.5%, inflation is the highest it's been since 1981.
Rising prices in gas, rent and food were the biggest contributors to inflation, with gasoline surging upward 18.3%, food going up 1% and food-at-home rising 1.5% in March, the BLS release said. Over the past 12 months, the food-at-home index rose 10% and energy rose 32%. The cost of new and preowned vehicles also increased since this time last year, with new cars going up 12.5% and used cars rising 35.3%.
As of Tuesday, residents of Michigan are paying an average of $3.93 per gallon of regular gas, an American Automobile Association report said.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an inflation measurer, notating the cost of over a dozen common goods, a recent CNBC report said.
"Price increases over last year (CPI report) – Gasoline: +48.0%, Used Cars: +35.3%, Gas Utilities: +21.6%, Meats/Fish/Eggs: +13.7%, New Cars: +12.5%, Electricity: +11.1%, Food at home: +10%, Apparel: +6.8%, Shelter: +5.0%. The actual inflation rate is much higher than 8.5%. #Bidenflation," a Tuesday Real Mac Report tweet said.
Economists had predicted that inflation would rise last month, but the CPI data superseded the forecast.
"Estimates [were] that inflation rose at an annual rate of 8.4% last month, surpassing February's 7.9% reading," a Monday U.S. News and World Report release said. The actual CPI annual rate was 0.1% higher.
A recent Senate Opportunity Fund (SOF) survey found that six in 10 Americans believe President Biden is at fault for inflation. The poll, held March 15-17, questioned 800 voters likely to cast ballots in the general election.
When respondents were asked the question, "Thinking about the job that President Biden has done with regard to inflation, how would you describe the job he has done on this issue?" 60% stated they thought Biden was doing a poor job, 35% believed he had done a suitable job and 5% did not have an opinion, the survey said.