Inflation has not affected all economic sectors equally.

• Food and shelter increased only 2.2 percent since May 2020, well within the Federal Reserve’s flexible 2% average inflation target (though bacon is up 13%!).
• If you want to move from one place to another it’s going to cost you: Gasoline prices are up 56.2% year-over-year
• Used cars and trucks up 29.7%
• Car and truck rentals up 109.8%
• Airline fares up 24.1% from a year ago,
• Bicycles up 10.1%

The economy was very strictly locked down last May, leading demand for many goods and services to plummet.

• Gasoline prices, are up 56.2% from May 2020, but just 3.4% from May 2019.
• Plane tickets are up 24.1% from year ago but are 11.3% cheaper than they were two years ago.
• However, the price of used cars and trucks skyrocketed no matter where you start the count from A fresh wave of Covid-19 clusters in Asia is creating new bottlenecks in the global supply chain, threatening to push up prices and weigh on the post-pandemic recovery.

The run-up in commodity prices is casting a cloud over the global economic recovery, slamming vulnerable businesses and households and adding to fears that inflation could become more persistent.



Source: “The Madison Weekly Market Wrap”, June 13 2021