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Phoenix's consumer prices up nearly 10% from last year

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says energy costs in the Phoenix area are up by 40% from December 2020.

PHOENIX — Editor's Note: The video above is from an earlier broadcast.

Prices in the Valley are nearly 10% higher than they were a year ago, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Energy prices are 40% higher than in December 2020 and food costs are about 5% more than last year. 

The price of all items excluding food and energy in the Phoenix area is up by about 8%.

Between October and December, prices in the Valley rose by 1.7% due to a rise in the cost of shelter and gasoline.

Arizona is not alone in feeling the stings of inflation, since the rest of the country is also seeing consumer costs rise in various sectors. 

Prices paid nationally by U.S. consumers jumped 7% over the last year, the highest inflation rate since 1982 and the latest evidence that rising costs for food, gas, rent, and other necessities are heightening the financial pressures on America’s households. 

Inflation has spiked during the recovery from the pandemic recession as Americans have ramped up spending on goods such as cars, furniture, and appliances. Those increased purchases have been clogging ports and warehouses and exacerbating supply shortages of semiconductors.

BLS data shows consumer prices in the Valley dropped sharply at the start of the pandemic and started escalating again in the spring of 2021.

Credit: Bureau of Labor

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