WASHINGTON (AP) – The rise in retail prices rose 8.3% last month since August 2020, the highest annual profit since the Labor Department began calculating 12 months in 2010.
The Department of Labor said Friday that commodity prices – which test the pressure of inflation before reaching consumers – rose 0.7% last month from a 1% increase in June and July.
Rising prices have been rocking as the economy recovers in the long-term but severe recession of the coronavirus. Equipment supply and staff shortages have raised prices. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has said the price levels are temporary and warned of the risk of the central bank raising its interest rate (now close to zero), which could cost the economy.
“Since the outbreak, human resources have not been the same and may not be available for six months,” says a report by Contingent Macro Advisors. Only then will we (and, above all, the Fed) understand the realities of rising commodity prices. ″
With the exception of fixed prices for food and energy, so-called high production prices rose 0.6% from July and 6.7% from a year earlier. Food prices rose 2.9% last month after falling in July. Last year, wholesale food prices rose 12.7%, including 59.2% beef cattle and 43.5% for shortening and cooking oil. Electricity prices have risen by 0.4% since July and are up 32.3% last year.
Economic growth seems to be slowing down over the summer as various forms of the COVID-19 virus prevent Americans from shopping or going to restaurants. Retail sales plummeted in August, with employers just adding 235,000 jobs last month, a third of what economists expect, and a sharp decline since June and July, with nearly 1 million jobs added each month.
The Department of Labor’s report on consumer prices in August came out on Tuesday. Economists expect a slight improvement from July 5.4% year-on-year, according to data from FactSet data company.