Keystone Today

The most recent Consumer Price Index numbers have been released for the month of July, and while the inflation number is marginally lower than last month, indexes in some areas like food and shelter have increased. These are two major components of a Pennsylvanian’s median household budget.

The House Republicans tweeted, "Inflation is a tax on ALL Americans. In July: Gasoline was UP 44.0%. Electricity was UP 15.2%. Food at home was UP 13.1%. New Cars were UP 0.4%. Transportation was UP +9.2%. Food away from home was UP 7.6%. Used Cars were UP 6.6%. Shelter was UP 5.7%.”

On August 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data that showed an 8.5% all items annual increase. This is a 0.6% drop from last month. The largest contributors were increases in the index for food, shelter and electricity.

According to a report by The Ascent, food and shelter are among the largest part of the median household budget, which makes up 46.8% of the total. The highest average cost is shelter at $1,784 per month and is 35% of the average budget. The average household spends about $610 on food per month, coming in at 8% of the budget.

The BLS report adds that the food index went up 1.1% in the last month and 10.9% over the last year. The shelter index increased 0.5% in the last month and 5.7% in the last year. The index for electricity went up 1.6% in the last month and 15.2% over the last year.

Another common concern for Americans is the high price of groceries. According to the BLS report, last month the food at home index increased 13.1% over the past year. This is the largest 12 month increase since the period ending in March 1979.

According to a report by SoFi, the average housing costs in Pennsylvania ranges from $762 to $1,595 per month. The average monthly non-restaurant food cost in the commonwealth is about $278 per person.