Des Moines Sun

Let’s hope consumer prices treat Americans better in 2022, than they did in 2021. A final 0.5% rise in December capped off a 12-month period where consumer prices rose 7% before seasonal adjustment. It’s the largest single-year increase since 1982, according to a release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The historic rise was due to higher costs for shelter, energy, fuel and transportation.

December was typical of most months in 2021. The consumer price index for all items, less food and energy, rose 0.6% in December, marking the sixth time in the last nine months it has increased at least 0.5%. The indexes for household furnishings, apparel, new vehicles and medical care also increased in December. Indexes for shelter and for used cars and trucks also increased.

Food didn’t get any cheaper either. While the increase in the cost of what we eat was less than in recent months, prices still rose 0.5% in December.

Meanwhile, the energy index was one of the few areas that saw a decline in December. Drops in the prices of gasoline and natural gas created a 0.4% decline in the energy index. It hardly put a dent in the 12-month average that saw the energy index rise a whopping 29.3%.

For the year, all items, less food and energy, rose 5.5%, the largest 12-month change since the period ending February 1991.

"Are you better off today than a year ago?" Sen. Chuck Grassley asked in an Jan. 17 Facebook post. The post was linked to a CBS News story on inflation and President Joe Biden's first year in office.

The historic rise in the consumer price index hasn’t helped Biden’s approval ratings which continue to plummet, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.  Only 33%  of Americans polled approve of the job he is doing, while 53% do not. Another 13% didn’t offer an opinion. A month earlier, 36% approved of the job Biden was doing as president.