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  1. Economy and Politics
  2. Inflation

Inflation Just Hit a 30-Year High, and Prices for These Goods Are Rising the Fastest

By: Mallika Mitra
Mallika Mitra, expert in Investing, Personal Finance, and Investing Editor at Money
Mallika Mitra
Investing Editor | Joined May 2020
Mallika Mitra is a former investing editor at Money, where she wrote the weekly newsletter Investing with Money. She has also reported on municipal finance, personal finance, and retail during her career.
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Published: Nov 10, 2021 2 min read
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U.S. inflation hit a 30-year high in October.

The consumer-price index, a measure of the price of goods and services from groceries to cars, jumped 6.2% from a year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Wednesday.

It's the largest 12-month increase of consumer goods since November 1990, the agency says.

This won't come as a surprise if you've hit the mall recently. The price of everything from popular snacks to new couches is rising, going into the holiday season, shoppers are paying more for toys, Christmas trees and more this year.

Inflation has been rising for months, thanks in part to a global supply chain disaster that has caused shortages and price increases going into the holiday season. Businesses are also facing a labor shortage that has pushed them to pass on costs to consumers.

Month-to-month, prices increased 0.9% in October, after ticking up 0.4% in September.

A few goods stand out as major contributors to that jump, BLS reports. Energy prices rose 4.8% and gasoline, 6.1%. Fuel oil prices soared 12.3% in October.

Meanwhile, food prices jumped 0.9%. Used vehicle prices rose 2.5% for the month (26.4% for the year) and new vehicles 1.4% in October — its seventh consecutive monthly increase — and 9.8% for the year, the largest 12-month increase since May 1975, according to the Bureau.

“When costs go up, inevitably they get passed on to consumers,” Alla Valente, a senior analyst at the research firm Forrester, previously told Money.

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