Inflation Remains Devastatingly High: 6.5% Year-Over-Year in December

If you have been reading mainstream media, they have been championing the "falling" inflation rate narrative. Although the country is heading in the right direction with the inflation rate, it is far from perfect. The inflation rate of the United States remains well above the target of 2-3%.

In December 2022, the United States inflation rate slowed to 6.5% due to two factors. One of them is the stability of the value of oil. The value of oil has been fluctuating but not to such extreme degrees as when Joe Biden initially took office, limiting production and expansive projects of pipelines in the United States. The Ukrainian-Russian war also affected the value of oil and other precious metals. The other reason was an easing of the used auto values, which has seen a steep drop of -10% year-over-year. The collapse of Carvana and its undergoing bankruptcy has also contributed to the fall in used auto sales. There was a boom in auto values in early 2022, but that boom has subsided dramatically.

However, if you're not too concerned with current petroleum or diesel prices, which remain higher than they were for most of Donald Trump's time in office, or if you're not in the market for a new car, the current inflation rate should worry you. Food has inflated to 10.4% year-over-year in December 2022. This level of inflation has dramatically hurt low-income earners and has pushed many working-class Americans in the middle class to start rationing some meals. To break it down even further, the average price of a dozen eggs in December 2021 was $1.79; In January 2020, they were $1.46. In December 2022, the average value of eggs exploded to 4.25$, which is +2.9x its price from January 2020 (when Joe Biden assumed office).

Cereal and Bakery Products remain explosively high, inflating to 16% year-over-year. The energy costs inflation rate is currently at 7.3%, and other non-food or energy-related items have an inflation rate of 5.7%. The average American, immigrant, and even homeless person on the street are suffering majorly from higher food prices. We are not currently living in a market recovery, we may not be able to buy enough food every month, but at least we can buy ourselves a used Ford F-150.