by Cole Lauterbach
April inflation rates show the Phoenix metropolitan area remains among the highest in the nation, with the increased cost of housing fueling the expensive cost of living.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released national inflation data for April on Wednesday, showing the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% last month. The numbers are seasonally adjusted. The increase is an acceleration from March, which saw only 0.1% in higher CPI among metros.
A report from the Common Sense Institute Arizona found Phoenix households would have had to spend $18,780 more over the past 28 months – or the equivalent of over $9,389 per year – to buy the same things since 2020.
The BLS survey of all measured items over the last 12 months shows a nearly 5% increase in costs for consumers before being seasonally adjusted.
“Shelter tends to be a lagging measure of home and rental prices and has continued rising in Phoenix even as the housing market itself has been cooling,” CSI Arizona noted. “These large increases (+0.7% in April, month-over-month) are keeping overall prices in the Phoenix area so high relative to the broader US.”
Miami and Tampa Bay, Florida, were the only metropolitan areas with higher inflationary rates than Phoenix.
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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.
Photo “Family at Home” by cottonbro studio.
