Category: Cost of Living
-
Gasoline averaged $4.07 a gallon last week, 89 cents more than a year ago
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline came in at $4.071 last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Monday survey of retail stations across the country. That’s a few cents cheaper than the week before, but it sits 89 cents higher than drivers paid at the same point last year. For…
-
The July inflation report put airline fares up 25.5 percent over the year
Airfare was one of the standout increases in the government’s most recent inflation report, and it lands hardest on retirees who fly to see grandchildren rather than business travelers on expense accounts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for July 2026, released August 12, listed airline fares among the largest year-over-year increases in…
-
Trump declared a national emergency over the power grid, and the order exempts local delivery lines
A new executive order signed this week puts foreign-made equipment inside America’s power grid under direct federal scrutiny, but it stops well short of reaching the wires and transformers that actually carry electricity into most homes. President Trump signed Executive Order 14420 on August 26, declaring a national emergency over the bulk-power system, the high-voltage…
-
Rents are falling in 52 of the 100 biggest cities, and the national median is $1,390
The apartment market that punished renters with double-digit rent hikes a few years ago has quietly flipped in the other direction for more than half of the country’s largest cities. Apartment List’s latest national rent report puts the median U.S. apartment at $1,390 a month as of August, and in 52 of the 100 largest…
-
Candy and chocolate are forecast up 7.1 percent this year, the grocery increase nobody is watching
Beef gets the headlines, but it is not the only grocery category running hot in USDA’s own price data this year. The Economic Research Service now forecasts sugar and sweets prices, the category that covers candy and chocolate, rising 7.1 percent in 2026. That puts it among the fastest-growing sections of the grocery store, well…
-
Regulators paused enforcement on tobacco surcharges, so employers need not pay the reward retroactively
Millions of workers pay more for health coverage because they smoke, vape, or otherwise fail a tobacco-related wellness standard their employer’s plan sets. Federal regulators just settled a 12-year argument over exactly when those workers get their money back if they quit and complete a cessation program partway through the year — and the answer…
-
Apple raised Apple TV to $14.99 a month and Apple One to $21.95, its second increase in a year
Apple’s streaming and bundle subscribers are paying more starting this week. The company raised the price of a standalone Apple TV subscription and its Apple One bundle for new sign-ups on August 28, with current subscribers due for a billing notice roughly a month before the higher rate reaches their card. For a household already…
-
USDA now forecasts beef prices up 9.8 percent this year, the biggest grocery increase of 2026
Grocery shoppers who have noticed the price of ground beef and steak climbing faster than everything else in the cart are not imagining it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service now forecasts beef and veal prices rising 9.8 percent for all of 2026, the steepest projected increase among the 15 major grocery categories…
-
Wheat prices paid to farmers are up 25.5 percent in a year, an early warning for bread and cereal
Long before a loaf of bread or a box of cereal gets a new price tag, the wheat that goes into it gets one first. USDA’s Economic Research Service reported this week that the price farmers are paid for wheat jumped 9.3 percent in a single month, from June to July 2026, and now sits…
-
USDA cut its grocery-price forecast for this year to 2.5 percent
Every month, USDA’s Economic Research Service updates its outlook for how much grocery prices will rise over the full year, based on the newest inflation data available. The August update, posted August 25, lowered that outlook: food-at-home prices, the government’s term for what people spend at grocery stores and supermarkets, are now forecast to rise…
