Yeah, pretty much, at least for the things I buy. Eating out hasn’t gone down (but delivery pizza has stayed pretty flat, go figure), but groceries are something like 15% higher than pre-COVID prices, which is pretty typical for inflation over 4 years (down from like 30% or something). Price increases for eating out seems to have hit fast food the hardest, though we don’t eat fast food all that often anyway. I can still get a decent meal for ~$10 in my area at counter-service casual dining places, and prices for that are basically the same since pre-COVID, without noticeable changes in portions. Table service places are a bit more expensive, and I chalk that up to increased labor prices, which have nearly doubled since the start of COVID (starting wages were ~$7.50, now it’s $12-15).
you say rent doubled like that’s no big deal
Well, it doesn’t impact me, so it’s not something I personally had to deal with. I bought a place a few years before COVID, so my housing prices have been stable.
But it does impact my coworkers, and since I’m in a management position that’s involved in hiring, it’s something I do care about, especially since we’ve been needing to pay relocation costs due to limited labor supply in my area for our industry. However, since lower-income people have nearly doubled their hourly income, I can only assume they’re keeping up with rent prices. Our yearly COL adjustments (“raises”) have also doubled (from like 2-3% to 5-6%), but I think we’re net losing out because inflation has been a bit higher than that, but we’re above median pay so we can absorb a reduction in effective pay better than below-median workers.
I obviously can’t speak to your personal situation or really any other region than my own. That said, my state’s average income increased at a very similar rate as the rest of the country (second image). The last couple years were quite rough with layoffs and whatnot, but still, on average, people are better off today vs Q4 2019 (at least in paper). Whether that translates to individual situations is a separate matter.
The main issue seems to be rent prices, and that’s almost entirely due to supply chain disruptions resulting in new construction focusing on luxury housing vs affordable housing. That seems to have ended now that commodity prices have dropped and the labor pool has largely stabilized. So while I don’t expect to see rent prices drop significantly, I do expect to see them stabilize as availability improves.
Yeah, pretty much, at least for the things I buy. Eating out hasn’t gone down (but delivery pizza has stayed pretty flat, go figure), but groceries are something like 15% higher than pre-COVID prices, which is pretty typical for inflation over 4 years (down from like 30% or something). Price increases for eating out seems to have hit fast food the hardest, though we don’t eat fast food all that often anyway. I can still get a decent meal for ~$10 in my area at counter-service casual dining places, and prices for that are basically the same since pre-COVID, without noticeable changes in portions. Table service places are a bit more expensive, and I chalk that up to increased labor prices, which have nearly doubled since the start of COVID (starting wages were ~$7.50, now it’s $12-15).
Well, it doesn’t impact me, so it’s not something I personally had to deal with. I bought a place a few years before COVID, so my housing prices have been stable.
But it does impact my coworkers, and since I’m in a management position that’s involved in hiring, it’s something I do care about, especially since we’ve been needing to pay relocation costs due to limited labor supply in my area for our industry. However, since lower-income people have nearly doubled their hourly income, I can only assume they’re keeping up with rent prices. Our yearly COL adjustments (“raises”) have also doubled (from like 2-3% to 5-6%), but I think we’re net losing out because inflation has been a bit higher than that, but we’re above median pay so we can absorb a reduction in effective pay better than below-median workers.
I obviously can’t speak to your personal situation or really any other region than my own. That said, my state’s average income increased at a very similar rate as the rest of the country (second image). The last couple years were quite rough with layoffs and whatnot, but still, on average, people are better off today vs Q4 2019 (at least in paper). Whether that translates to individual situations is a separate matter.
The main issue seems to be rent prices, and that’s almost entirely due to supply chain disruptions resulting in new construction focusing on luxury housing vs affordable housing. That seems to have ended now that commodity prices have dropped and the labor pool has largely stabilized. So while I don’t expect to see rent prices drop significantly, I do expect to see them stabilize as availability improves.