24 Household Items With Soaring Prices Due to Inflation
Any way you slice it, consumer prices have soared in 2022. On a year-over-year basis, prices in March jumped 8.5%, the highest inflation rate in 40 years. A perfect storm of supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine and the residual effects of $5 trillion in stimulus payments has resulted in surging prices that many Americans have never experienced in their lifetimes.
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To capture the real-world effects of rising inflation, GOBankingRates analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see how much prices have actually risen from April 2021 to April 2022, complete with seasonal adjustments. Here’s a look at which household items have seen the biggest price increases over the past year, presented in reverse order.
24. Sewing Machines, Fabric and Supplies
Sewing machines, fabric and supplies suffered from a sharp, seasonally adjusted price gain of 4.6% in the March-April 2022 period alone.
23. Laundry Equipment
Laundry equipment prices have been kept relatively in check over the past year, helped by a larger-than-normal, seasonally adjusted 3.1% drop in prices from March-April 2022.
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22. Toys, Games, Hobbies and Playground Equipment
Toys, games and related industries haven’t skyrocketed as much in price as other industries, due in part to a large, seasonally adjusted price drop of 1.2% from February-March 2022.
21. Newspapers and Magazines
Newspaper and magazine prices have fluctuated wildly on a seasonally adjusted basis in 2022, up a whopping 5.3% from January-February 2022 but then down 3.9% the following month.
20. Dishes and Flatware
Dishes and flatware gained on a seasonally adjusted basis in January and February 2022 before falling a bit in March.
19. Nonelectric Cookware and Tableware
Issues with the supply chain likely contributed to the jump in nonelectric cookware and tableware prices over the past year.
18. Miscellaneous Household Products
The fairly nonspecific category of “miscellaneous household products” had some perhaps not surprising seasonally adjusted fluctuations in the first few months of the year, rising in January and March but falling by 0.3% in February.
17. Pets and Pet Products
Even on a seasonally adjusted basis, prices for pets and pet products jumped sharply in January and February 2022 before moderating a bit in March.
16. Window and Floor Coverings and Other Linens
Many products involved in home renovation or construction went up sharply over the past year, including window and floor coverings.
15. Housekeeping Supplies
The cost of housekeeping supplies rose over 8% over the past year, pushed in part by big seasonally adjusted gains in both January and March 2022.
14. Household Cleaning Products
Household cleaning products jumped sharply by double digits over the past year, just a tad more than the cost of housekeeping supplies.
13. Laundry and Dry Cleaning Services
Laundry and dry cleaning services saw their prices jump nearly in lockstep with household cleaning products over the past year.
12. Clocks, Lamps and Decorator Items
Clocks, lamps and decorator items jumped a significant 3.7% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis before falling an equally notable 1.1% in March.
11. Tools, Hardware and Supplies
Tools, hardware and supplies have been rising fairly consistently in price throughout 2022 thus far.
10. Household Furnishings and Supplies
Household furnishings and supplies have shown a relatively steady gain throughout 2022 year-to-date.
9. Stationery, Stationery Supplies, Gift Wrap
On a seasonally adjusted basis, stationery prices were up a more-than-usual 3% in the January-February 2022 period, after the holiday season had ended.
8. Delivery Services
Delivery services have been steadily increasing in prices as the perfect storm of rising fuel prices, labor shortages and supply chain issues have been pressuring costs.
7. Bedroom Furniture
Prices in furniture are likely up due to a number of contributing factors, from rising prices for materials to labor and supply chain shortages.
6. Roasted Coffee
Roasted coffee is a publicly-traded commodity, so its price can often be volatile and rise during inflationary periods.
5. Living Room, Kitchen and Dining Room Furniture
Prices for living room, kitchen and dining room furniture are up more or less in line with the costs of bedroom furniture, and for many of the same reasons.
4. Men’s Suits, Sport Coats and Outerwear
On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices for men’s suits, coats and outerwear actually fell 1.7% in the January-February 2022 time frame before spiking up 6.6% from March to April 2022.
3. Utility (Piped) Gas Service
Seasonally adjusted, the price for utility (piped) gas service rose 3.1% from March to April 2022 alone.
2. Window Coverings
Prices of window coverings have been volatile lately. While they’re up sharply over the past year, they actually dropped 5.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February 2022 before rising 5.4% and 4.7% (seasonally adjusted) the following two months.
1. Propane, Kerosene and Firewood
Energy is often the most volatile component of inflation measures and yet it’s one of the most fundamental products to life in America. Consumers are no doubt feeling the sting from the sharp rise in propane, kerosene and firewood prices.
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Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates looked at the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s “Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U. S. city average, by detailed expenditure category” for April 2022 and isolated those products deemed “household items”. For each household item GOBankingRates found: (1) the unadjusted percent change in price from April 2021 to April 2022; and the seasonally adjusted percent change in price from (2) January 2022 to February 2022; (3) February 2022 to March 2022; and (4) March 2022 to April 2022. All data was collected and is up to date as of May 31, 2022.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 24 Household Items With Soaring Prices Due to Inflation
