by Cole Lauterbach
After months of experiencing some of America’s highest inflation rates, federal data shows many Arizonans are finally starting to see some relief.
A new report from the Common Sense Institute of Arizona reviews federal inflation data from October. The research organization found most aspects of the state’s Consumer Price Index have slowed from being among the highest in the nation at 9% in January.
The latest CPI data for the Phoenix metropolitan area shows inflation at a rate not seen since March 2021.
“At 2.9%, year-over-year price inflation in the Phoenix metropolitan area is now just a third of its 9.0% reading in January of this year,” the report said. “Between August and October, Phoenix area inflation rates decreased 0.8 percentage points (local inflation numbers are published every two months); over the same period the year-over-year U.S. inflation rate decreased 0.5 percentage points from 3.7% to 3.2%.”
Still, the cost of everyday items residents of the “Valley of the Sun,” as the Phoenix metropolitan area is known, must spend remains well above what their dollar bought them even a year ago. The report compares today’s costs with what they were in October 2020. Arizona residents pay $26,327 more for food, housing, transportation, medical care and other goods and services than they did three years ago.
“Because of inflation, today it costs the typical Arizona family over $4,600/year more to purchase the same goods and services as it would have cost in October 2022,” the report said. “Even if the rate of inflation slows, it would take a sustained period of deflation to restore historical price levels.”
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Cole Lauterbach is a managing editor for The Center Square covering the western United States. For more than a decade, Cole has produced award-winning content on both radio and television.
