How Have Prices Changed Over Past 4 Years?

Since August 2020, when pandemic lockdowns still loomed large over our daily lives, prices across goods and services for consumers, the broadest measure we have, are up 21%. Eggs are up more than 60%, gasoline — despite falling more recently — is 56% more expensive. Electricity is nearly 30% more costly, and on average eating food outside of your home will set you back 25% more, which is arguably why the value meals from fast food outlets like McDonald’s have proved so popular.

Only a few categories have seen price drops, with electronics consistently bucking the inflationary trend thanks primarily to the BLS’s hedonic quality adjustments, which takes the quality of products into account.

Of course, inflation in isolation isn’t the end of the world if wages keep pace. But, for more than 2 years, they didn’t.

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