As inflation rises, more than 40 percent say they struggle to pay for basic necessities: Pew
More than 4 in 10 Americans said they are struggling to afford basic living costs amid rising inflation levels in the country, according to polling data released Wednesday.
The Pew Research Center surveys, which were conducted in late July and August, found that 44 percent of U.S. adults reported struggling to pay for basic necessities like medical care, rent or mortgage, transportation and food.
Rising costs had an even greater impact on lower income Americans, as 71 percent of those surveyed said they struggled with costs for at least one of these expense categories.
Additionally, 60 percent of people said they did not have enough income to "lead the kind of life they want," while 53 percent said they did not have sufficient emergency funds.
The inflation rate in August was 3.4 percent, down from 3.7 percent in July. Since then, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported further increases to the consumer price index, including a 0.6 percent increase in September.
Gas prices have accounted for a sizable share of the inflation rate increases, as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war placed a sustained strain on global energy supplies.
A gallon of regular gas was around $4.33 a gallon in the U.S. on Wednesday afternoon, up from about $3.08 a year ago, according to AAA. The average cost of diesel has also spiked to more than $6 a gallon — an increase of more than $2 from last year.
President Trump has attempted to calm concerns about rising costs of living amid this conflict and his administration's tariff fight with Canada ahead of the midterm elections, in which affordability is expected to be a top issue for voters at the ballot box.
During a Tuesday campaign rally in Alaska, the president did not offer hope that the months-long conflict was nearing a close, telling the crowd he has "had it" with Iran's leaders and added that his administration was "going to do a number" on the country.
The Pew report released Wednesday was based on findings from two surveys among a sample of 5,166 U.S. adults with a margin of error of approximately 1.6 percentage points. One poll was conducted from Aug. 24-30, while the other was conducted from July 20 to Aug. 9.
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US producer prices see biggest jump since 2022 in added challenge to Trump
US gasoline and diesel prices have rocketed since US-Israel strikes on Iran in February sparked a broader war in the Middle East (Frederic J. BROWN)US wholesale inflation surged past analysts' expectations in September, marking its biggest jump since 2022 as the war in Iran sent fuel prices rocketing, government data showed Thursday.
The latest numbers, coming a day after hotter-than-anticipated consumer inflation, underscore the challenges that President Donald Trump faces in cooling prices and winning over cost-weary voters in November's midterm elections.
The Producer Price Index was up 6.3 percent from a year ago last month, according to the Labor Department, significantly above the 5.5 percent expected in a forecast published by MarketWatch.
The acceleration from August was also the biggest year-on-year jump since December 2022, the department said.
On a month-on-month basis, PPI rose by 1.3 percent, the widest advance since March 2022. This was similarly a sharp increase from the 0.5 percent rate in August.
Half of the September uptick for goods costs can be "traced to prices for gasoline, which jumped 20.3 percent," the report said.
"The indexes for diesel fuel, fresh and dry vegetables, jet fuel, residential electric power, and crude petroleum also rose," it added.
A day prior, government data showed that the consumer price index -- a key gauge of inflation -- climbed more than expected to 3.7 percent in September.
While price increases may not lock in a second consecutive interest rate hike this month by the US central bank, the odds of higher rates to tamp down inflation have climbed.
With a second straight day of "higher-than-expected inflation numbers, it seems the Fed will have no choice but to raise rates again this year," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Northlight Asset Management.
- Consumers losing steam? -
Even though US consumer spending appears to be holding up, analysts expect household behavior to reflect the growing pinch from rising costs.
A separate Commerce Department report showed Thursday that retail sales grew by 0.8 percent month-on-month in September to $745.0 billion. This was slower than the 1.3 percent pace in August.
The numbers, adjusted for seasonal changes but not inflation, likely reflect the sharp price hikes in energy costs too.
"That headline figure doesn't tell us much about the health of the consumer, as it was almost entirely driven by a price-related jump in gasoline spending," said Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics.
He expects consumers will lose steam heading into the year-end holiday shopping season, bogged down by higher prices.
Sales continued to rise at restaurants and bars, by 1.1 percent, likely due to spending by higher-income households, Pearce said.
Sales sharply rose at gasoline stations by 6.4 percent.
Excluding gasoline stations, however, retail sales rose a tepid 0.2 percent.
"The moderation in core retail sales, along with a sharp pullback in auto sales, suggests that real consumer spending was likely flat in September," Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic warned in a note.
Stripping out auto sales and that at gasoline stations, overall retail sales was also just up by 0.2 percent from the prior month.
"The key to sustaining resilient spending will be the health of the labor and equity markets. If the unemployment rate remains low, meaning consumers have a job, they will continue to spend, even if more cautiously," Bostjancic said.
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