US prices in 2020 have shown the kind of growth that previously took 10 years: groceries and electricity have risen by a quarter, used cars by a third, and rent has added 20%, Bloomberg reported.
Goods and services that a family could afford on $100 in 2020 will now cost nearly $120.
Those figures help explain why Americans continue to register strong dissatisfaction with the economy: Consumers’ daily routines have largely returned to their pre-pandemic normal, but the cost of living has not.
And the government data reports that show easing inflation are cold comfort, because they simply indicate prices are growing at a slower pace, not that they are returning to early 2020 levels.
It doesn’t just mean they cost more. It means you earn less.