It ignores the fact that unemployment figures are not necessarily a measure of actual unemployment (see this, for example, which although written in 2022 explains the principle). But even more importantly, I think, is the odd fact that it doesn’t credit the consumer for being able to think longer than the last year when evaluating inflation.
When I go to the grocery store and my grocery bill seems to be at least 30% higher than it was in 2020, I don’t get the warm fuzzies and tell myself that at least it hasn’t risen in the last year, or at least not all that much – although I beg to differ with the author of that piece, because 2.7% is perceptible to those on a tight budget.
But the last year isn’t the point. If what I used to pay for a bag of groceries during the Trump administration was pretty stable at $65, let’s say, and that same bag costs me a bit more than $100 now, I sure do notice. As for the 2.7% increase, in the last year, not only is it on top of the earlier bigger jumps, but 2.7% of $100 every week adds up to about $10.80 per month or about $130 a year. That’s not nothing to those who live paycheck to paycheck.
And people with families pay much more than $100 a week on groceries.
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