- December 18, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Inflation – another miserable byproduct of the pandemic – has gone global. Here in the United States, the annual rate of inflation soared to 6.2% in October, the highest level in three-plus decades, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Producer prices leaped 9.6% in November, and grocery costs have risen more than 5% over the past year.
Consumers, however, are getting a break on fuel costs, which had become formidable. Forecasts of milder temperatures into January have caused natural gas futures to decline 41% since peaking in October. And gasoline prices have fallen nationwide for the past five weeks.
Motorists are paying $1.14 more per gallon for unleaded self-serve than a year ago. The national average, as of Wednesday, was $3.31.8. That figure, however, was 10 cents…
