Gas, food, clothes, housing - it's all getting more expensive

[n2doc]

Does it feel like just about everything is getting more expensive these days? You're not crazy. It's true.

Over the past 12 months, consumer prices in the Seattle area had risen 3.8 percent by the end of October. Even between August and October, prices ballooned 0.9 percent, according to new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To make matters worse, it's not like our wages have grown that much. During the same period -- October 2010 to October 2011 -- Seattle-area compensation rose 1.7 percent. Inflation is outpacing raises.

Gasoline is becoming an even spendier item - in Seattle, the price of all types of gas has jumped by 26 percent since last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That has caused energy prices to rise by 16.5 percent.

In fact, the rising cost of fuel has made many things more expensive. Food prices have risen 4.8 percent since October 2010 - including a 5.2 percent increase in the cost of food at home. But prices for food at home have fallen 1.1 percent since August. (Food away from home -- i.e. dining out -- rose 4.1 percent annually and 1.6 percent since August.)


Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Gas-food-clothes-housing-it-s-all-getting-2272929.php

[European Socialist]

1. Food prices have gone way up since Katrina....

Must be people that run M$M don't buy groceries, or maybe you would hear about it.