The government can claim deflation or very modest inflation into the CPI because they don't acount for the cost of food, rent, or energy, all things which have been increasing in cost.
Food costs are increasing at an unprecidented pace on a year-over-year basis.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-91848684.html
From the article:
Of course, this GOM oil geyser is not going to help anything with regard to food prices either, especially for those living in the Gulf coast states. Overall though, I think the impact of the oil geyser on food prices will be minor, but present.
The article mentions that the U6 unemployment is at 16.9%(*). This is down from summer/fall of last year, but by less than 1%. It does seem as if this "stimulus" spending has stabilized the real unemployment rate for about the past year, but what will happen when the stimulus dollars run out?
also, the stock market very recently had a catastrophic crach of more than 1,000 points, but bounced back. Most this is attributable to automatic trading done by computer in millionths of a second, deciding which stocks to sell off, but it also does not bode well for the stability of our economy. Having multiple 200 point gains and declines within a month was simply not normal before 2008. Greece having the troubles that it does(riots in the streets, protesters lobbing molotovs at police, general pangs of the beggining collapse over there) is also definately making an impact.
I personally hope I can find another job to replace the one I lost. I want a doomstead, dammit.
(*)this is bordering at the very low end of the real unemployment levels seen during the great depression in the 1940s, being 15-20%, but is nothing compared to what was seen in 1933 where effectively 35% of Americans were out of work when considering U6 style methodology, although the official stat back in 1933's peak using a different methodology than either the U3 or U6 was 24.9%
Food costs are increasing at an unprecidented pace on a year-over-year basis.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-91848684.html
From the article:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, its sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India.
Some of the startling food price increases on a year-over-year basis include, fresh and dry vegetables up 56.1%, fresh fruits and melons up 28.8%, eggs for fresh use up 33.6%, pork up 19.1%, beef and veal up 10.7% and dairy products up 9.7%. On October 30th, 2009, NIA predicted that inflation would appear next in food and agriculture, but we never anticipated that it would spiral so far out of control this quickly.
Some of the startling food price increases on a year-over-year basis include, fresh and dry vegetables up 56.1%, fresh fruits and melons up 28.8%, eggs for fresh use up 33.6%, pork up 19.1%, beef and veal up 10.7% and dairy products up 9.7%. On October 30th, 2009, NIA predicted that inflation would appear next in food and agriculture, but we never anticipated that it would spiral so far out of control this quickly.
The article mentions that the U6 unemployment is at 16.9%(*). This is down from summer/fall of last year, but by less than 1%. It does seem as if this "stimulus" spending has stabilized the real unemployment rate for about the past year, but what will happen when the stimulus dollars run out?
also, the stock market very recently had a catastrophic crach of more than 1,000 points, but bounced back. Most this is attributable to automatic trading done by computer in millionths of a second, deciding which stocks to sell off, but it also does not bode well for the stability of our economy. Having multiple 200 point gains and declines within a month was simply not normal before 2008. Greece having the troubles that it does(riots in the streets, protesters lobbing molotovs at police, general pangs of the beggining collapse over there) is also definately making an impact.
I personally hope I can find another job to replace the one I lost. I want a doomstead, dammit.
(*)this is bordering at the very low end of the real unemployment levels seen during the great depression in the 1940s, being 15-20%, but is nothing compared to what was seen in 1933 where effectively 35% of Americans were out of work when considering U6 style methodology, although the official stat back in 1933's peak using a different methodology than either the U3 or U6 was 24.9%