Palmetto State News

Reports show that South Carolina is experiencing high inflation and that the "misery index" for the nation as a whole has risen to the highest rate in decades.

The Wall Street Journal reports that for the month of October, prices rose by between 6% and 6.5% for South Carolina and other Southern states, consistent with rising rates across the nation, according to its regional inflation analysis.

In October, the Consumer Price Index increased 0.6%, eclipsing September’s 0.2% increase, according to Axios. Overall prices have risen 6.2% compared to a year ago, the sharpest annual increase in more than 30 years. Fuel and oil prices rose dramatically once again in October, increasing by 12.3%, up from 3.9% in September. Fuel prices have skyrocketed by 59.1% since the same time last year.

FOX Business reports that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, rose by the highest rate on record again in September. Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin remarked, "I think we need to put a pause button on government spending [and] get inflation under control."

The "misery index" is the sum of the inflation rate and unemployment, and currently stands at 10.5%, the highest the index has been in decades, ZeroHedge reported. High inflation acts as a tax on real spending power, meaning the earnings of Americans are being rapidly devalued, leading to the rising misery index. The misery index is predicted to fall in the upcoming months when supply constraints ease, which ZeroHedge reports should lower unemployment and inflation.

The national unemployment rate is a post-COVID-19 low 4.6%

Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, says, according to Axios, that prices for food and energy "are likely to be temporary, and the forecasts that inflation overall will drop early-to-mid-next year still seems credible."

Real average weekly earnings have decreased 1.6% since October 2020, meaning that Americans’ spending power decreased on average because of the inflated prices of goods, services, housing and more, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.