Inflation may be starting to ease, says insider
Apr 12, 2022, 4:15 PM
The price of diesel fuel is $5.24 per gallon at a Sinclair in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 11, 2022. Photo credit: Mengshin Lin, Deseret News.
SALT LAKE CITY — Americans haven’t felt the same bite of inflation they feel today since 1981, but an investing and financial insider says rising prices nationwide are starting to subside.
- Money remains consumers’ top stressor, with consumers increasingly worried about their finances over their careers. 32% now say money is their biggest source of stress, up from 22% last year. Work takes the next spot at 11% — down from 14% — according to a 2022 ValuePenguin survey.
- While the 8.5% inflation rate is the U.S. overall average, Utah and other Mountain West states that include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming saw annual inflation increase at a nation-leading 10.4%– a 40-year high — as reported by Deseret News.
Welcome to the show
ABC News correspondent Caleb Silver and editor in chief of Investopedia joined KSL NewsRadio’s Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic to discuss inflation and what lies ahead.
Silver said the rise of inflation is starting to crest.
“So what makes you think that we’ve hit the worst and that the worst is not yet to come?” Dave asked.
Silver said gas prices are starting to dip: The average price nationwide a month ago was $4.326, but today it’s $4.098, according to AAA.
New –and used– car prices and air travel are starting to come down, he said.
The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to slow inflation.
“Inflation is too high and getting inflation down is going to be our most important task,” said Fed governor Lael Brainard, who is awaiting Senate confirmation to serve as the Fed’s vice chairwoman, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
But raising interest rates too fast can freeze the economy and send it into a recession.
“It’s a very fine line The Fed has to walk there because if you raise them too much too fast… that would make consumers want to hold back on spending, that would make businesses rethink hiring, rethink expansion plans,” Silver said.
Inflation costs Utahns an extra $700 a month
Due to a combination of higher inflation rates and higher average household spending, inflation is imposing the greatest monthly costs on families in Washington, DC ($780), Colorado ($724) and Utah ($702), according to the United States Senate Joint Economic Committee.
“When you look at wages, you know you could go into your boss and beg for days. That wage increase is not going to keep up with $700 a month inflation,” Debbie said.
“Absolutely not,” Silver said. “For the first time in really 20 years, we’ve seen finally some wage inflation here, but it’s not keeping up with overall inflation.”
Silver predicted the rate of inflation will drop to 3.7% over the next three years.
“That’s still a lot higher than the Federal Reserve wants… but that’s a lot lower than we are now.”
Related: Economy is healthy except for inflation, which will come down, says finance expert
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.
