In cities governed by Democrats, costs have increased by as much as 13 percent, according to new data.
Phoenix was the worst-affected city in America, with a 13 percent increase in the cost of living, followed by Atlanta with an increase of 11.7%.
Tampa, which is likewise governed by Democrats, ranked third with an 11.2% increase in the cost of living. And Miami ranked fourth with a rise of 10.7%.
Phoenix, Atlanta, and Tampa all have Democratic mayors, although Francis X Suarez, a Republican, has led Miami since 2017.
All four exceed the national rate of inflation in August, which was 8.3%. This was a tiny decrease from 8.5% in July and 9.1% in June, but the United States is still experiencing its greatest cost-of-living crisis in forty years.
The reasons of the localized inflation spikes are unclear, but economists have hypotheses as to their origins.
Numerous cities hardest afflicted by inflation spikes are among the fastest-growing in the United States. As their population grows, the prices of property to buy and rent are skyrocketing.
The inflow of people is also driving up demand for products and services, resulting in increased pressure on shops to refill shelves and a consequent increase in costs.
Many of the cities severely afflicted by inflation are dispersed over broad distances and have inadequate public transportation, requiring residents to rely on cars.
This increasing demand for gasoline has driven up prices in a number of the regions most severely affected by above-average inflation.
In contrast, New York City, renowned for its massive subway and bus system, has had an inflation rate that is 6.6% lower than the national average.
The cost of living in San Francisco, which has an above-average public transportation system, has increased by 5.7% over the past year.
Faster-growing cities typically have greater purchasing power, which can lead to a quick increase in pricing for products and services – including real estate – due to increasing demand.
Cities having some of the highest inflation rates, such as New York and Riverside, California, have also experienced significant rent hikes.
Riverside’s pre-pandemic inflation rate was 0.9%, but it is now a staggering 9.2% in the Democrat-run city.
The degree of car usage is also likely to contribute to disparities between cities, with cities with a lower weight in cost-of-living experiencing smaller rate fluctuations.
New York and San Francisco are less affected by the increase in gas costs due to the lower average car usage.
New York’s current inflation rate is 6.6%, while San Francisco’s is 5.7%. Both cities are governed by Democrats.
Boston, Los Angeles, Alaska, Washington, and San Diego all have inflation rates below the national average.
The cities, which all have Democratic mayors, have unemployment rates of 7%, 7.7%, 7.6%, 7.5%, and 7.33%, respectively.
Baltimore, which also has a blue mayor, has one of the highest inflation rates at 10.2%, while Seattle’s inflation rate is 9%.
Pre-pandemic Inflation in Houston was only 1.5%, but it has now risen to 9.5% for a variety of reasons.
Miami, the sole city ruled by the Republican Party, has inflation rates of 10.7%, up from 1.4% before the pandemic.
On Monday, the national average price of a gallon of gasoline decreased to $3.71, from slightly above $5 in mid-June. Still, pump prices were higher than the national average of $3.18 a gallon a year ago.
Biden hails “progress” in combating inflation following the release of August CPI numbers.
Biden’s whole statement regarding August’s annual inflation figure of 8.3%:
‘Today’s results demonstrate additional success in reducing global inflation in the US economy. The last two months have seen practically unchanged prices in the United States, which is good news for American families, although more work remains.
Since the beginning of summer, gas prices have decreased an average of $1.30 a gallon. This month, grocery store price rises slowed compared to the previous month. And real wages increased for the second consecutive month, giving working families some breathing room.
‘Reducing inflation will require more time and dedication, which is why we passed the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce the cost of healthcare, prescription medications, and energy. And my economic strategy demonstrates that when we lower prices, we create well-paying jobs and bring manufacturing back to the United States.’
The district voted blue in 2020, although the city is still governed by a Republican mayor.
While locations like Tampa and Atlanta had relatively high inflation rates prior to the pandemic, others have gone from having some of the lowest inflation rates among American metropolitan areas to having some of the highest.
Prior to the pandemic, St. Louis and Dallas were among the lowest inflation rates, at 2.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
St. Louis’s and Dallas’s unemployment rates are now 7.5% and 9.4%, respectively, whereas they were 7.5% and 9.4% in the past.
Cities in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Denver all have similar inflation rates of 8.2 or 8.1% a.
The 8.6% inflation rate in Detroit is comparable to the 8.8% inflation rate in Chicago, where Lori Lightfoot is mayor.
The fresh numbers were released a day after the US inflation rate fell for the second consecutive month, and President Joe Biden pledged to make progress on the issue.
The latest consumer price index report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a decline from the 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June and 8.5 percent in July.
Biden stated in a statement, ‘Today’s numbers indicate additional progress in reducing worldwide inflation in the US economy.
The last two months have seen basically unchanged pricing in the United States, which is good news for American families, but there is still work to be done.
The decline in August’s inflation rates was led by a 10.6 percent drop in gasoline costs, while pump prices remained almost 25 percent higher than a year ago.
Food costs continued to soar at an alarming rate, with the cost of groceries increasing by 13.5% from the previous year, the largest yearly increase since February 1979. Rent has increased by 6.7% over the past year, indicating that housing costs have continued to climb.
Inflation has increased families’ grocery bills, rents, and electricity costs, among many other expenses, causing hardships and spreading economic pessimism despite robust job growth and jobless rates near historic lows.
Biden said in a statement following Tuesday’s inflation report, ‘Today’s numbers demonstrate additional progress in bringing global inflation down in the US economy.’
August’s inflation rate of 8.3% was down from June’s and July’s 40-year highs of 9.1% and 8.5%, respectively, but remained significantly above the Federal Reserve’s goal rate of 2%.
Although Americans will welcome the gradual decline in gasoline prices since their June peak, high food and housing costs continue to squeeze family budgets.
Inflation and economic difficulties weigh strongly on the minds of voters, according to polls, and have become a major electoral threat for Democrats in the midterm elections.
‘It will take more time and determination to drive inflation down,’ Biden said in a statement released on Tuesday, adding that recent legislation passed by Democrats to reduce prescription drug costs and combat climate change would help address the issue.
The Republicans, meanwhile, claim that Biden’s policies are causing unpleasant inflation, and they are pounding the administration on this subject ahead of the November elections.
Simply put, families cannot afford Biden and the Democrats. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, stated on Tuesday that voters are aware that the Democrats’ irresponsible spending is to blame for the current state of affairs and that the only way out is to vote these politicians out of office.
“While Biden and the Democrats conduct an out-of-touch celebration lap today, Americans are struggling to fill their shopping carts,”
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation increased by 0.6% in August compared to the previous month, and by 6.3% over the last year.
These statistics exceeded the expectations of several economists and suggest that the Fed will likely raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points at its meeting next week.
“Today’s higher-than-anticipated CPI figure indicates that we still have a long way to go before inflation returns to more normal levels,” said Scott Brave, Morning Consult’s chief consumer spending economist.
‘While the recent fall in petrol prices has provided consumers with a welcome reprieve, it represents just a small portion of the greater consumer basket, where prices continue to rise at rates far above incomes,’ he noted.