North Gwinnett News

As the nation continues to struggle to regain its economic footing amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, inflation is likely to continue to hamper the recovery. 

White and Associates LLP, a Gwinnett accounting firm, retweeted a Federalist report highlighting inflation concerns and noted that Gwinnett and Forsyth counties could experience inflationary issues. This comes after Raphael Bostic, the Atlanta Federal Reserve chairman, speaking at the Peterson Center for International Politics earlier this month, said that inflation likely will be lingering and shouldn’t necessarily be considered momentary, according to an Atlanta Federal Reserve news release. He explained in the release that there is evidence that inflation has expanded beyond goods directly linked to supply chain struggles and may no longer be just “transitory.”

“If we scrutinize that report, we see that three-quarters of the CPI consumer market basket rose at rates higher than 3% during August,” Bostic said in the release. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in a news release earlier this month that its consumer price index climbed 5.4% year-over-year, in part a result of sharp increases in the price of food, fuel and housing. The bureau noted that the indexes for food and shelter also increased in September and comprised more than half of the seasonally adjusted increase for all items. Amid this, CNBC reported that consumer giants including Costco, Nike and General Mills have warned of supply chain-related shortages. 

“We’ve seen cost-of-good increases especially in apparel, also costs of inbound shipping with the costs of containers, increases with transportation, trucking to get into distribution centers,” Keith Jelinek, managing director of the global retail practice at consulting firm Berkeley Research Group, told CNBC. “There’s only so much you can pass on to the consumer.” 

The BLS also noted in its release that the price of gasoline and rental cars both jumped by more than 42%, while sharp increases were seen in other areas, including used cars (24.4%), hotels (18%), televisions (12.7%) furniture, (11.2%) and select grocery items (10.5%). Americans also saw prices rise for new cars, electricity, rent and dining out. Chief Bankrate Financial Analyst Greg McBride told CNBC that trends in the cost of housing will have a lingering effect. 

“The rise in shelter costs will exacerbate the negative financial impact so many households are feeling from higher prices,” he told the network.

Comments from Bostic and others seem to be contrary to the position taken by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who, according to Nasdaq.com, has maintained that the reopening of the economy after the pandemic has created inflation that is “transitory.” Despite these claims, issues are affecting consumers, and with winter weather just around the corner, many Americans will be turning on their heat and may find the cost of heating their home has gone up compared to what they paid last year, according to Realclearpolitics.com. 

With so much attention being focused on supply-chain issues, the Biden administration recently worked out a deal for the Port of Los Angeles to work around the clock seven days a week to clear out the backlog of container ships off the California coast. The backlog has been cited as a contributing factor for rising prices, according to the Associated Press. 

The issues seemingly are not hitting home for some members of the administration, with Biden Chief of Staff Ronald Klain taking heat for calling inflation a “high class problem,” according to Realclearpolitics.com, citing Fox News. The Cato Institute’s Cato Journal noted that reckless spending and rising American debts will drive inflation and could have long-term ramifications if no action is taken.