DENVER, Colo. — Rising prices are causing a lot of concern among consumers, especially since it's happening around the holiday season.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the costs of goods and services rose by 6.2 percent from a year ago in October, the biggest jump since 1990.
“There is no question when people are going shopping for groceries or filling up their gas tanks that they certainly see some sticker shock,” said business and economics reporter Marc Stewart. “But from an economic standpoint, this is not really surprising. It’s this basic economic theory of supply and demand. When demand is strong, and supply is low prices go up.”
It’s still unclear when inflation will diminish. Some experts believe the Biden administration's $1 trillion infrastructure package could help ease supply bottlenecks.
“Right now, businesses across the country are dealing with some very serious challenges,” Stewart said. “In addition to inflation, there are the supply chain disruptions plus the struggle to find workers. In addition, there are a lot of unknowns still in the pandemic, perhaps new variance of the delta virus. That can cause even more strain. So, just how long will these last many economists say into 2022 a feeling that has been echoed by treasury secretary in some recent interviews.”
But one of the biggest questions is what consumers should do to try and help limit costs. Consumer report Laura Daily said consumers need to be paying attention to a few best practices.
“Although they are scarce, we still are seeing manufacturers have coupons, for some products,” Daily said. “I think that you can also save money or leverage your buying power by making sure you’re a member at whatever grocery store you shop at or loyalty programs. They’re offering some deals or discounts if you do a certain amount of shopping, you can use credits on products or discounts on gasoline. This may be the time where you finally say I’m going to look at products that are store brand or generic.”
