After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades \u2014 even as the pace of price increases has slowed.<\/p>\n
It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to find an area of a household budget that\u2019s been spared: Groceries are up 25% since January 2020. Same with electricity. Used-car prices have climbed 35%, auto insurance 33% and rents roughly 20%.<\/p>\n
Those figures help explain why Americans continue to register strong dissatisfaction with the economy: Consumers\u2019 daily routines have largely returned to their pre-pandemic normal, but the cost of living has not.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n From the Bloomberg article, \u201cJust How Bad Is the US Cost-of-Living Squeeze? We Did the Math.\u201d#economy<\/a> #inflation<\/a> #inequality<\/a> #econtwitter<\/a> @economics<\/a> @markets<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CXO2P0Wbez<\/a><\/p>\n — Mohamed A. El-Erian (@elerianm) November 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n