Food, Gas And Housing Prices Up
Speaker 1: 00:00 San Diego's housing prices have skyrocketed during the COVID pandemic. And now we find out that other costs such as gas and food have also been increasing bringing San Diego's inflation rate to one of the highest in the nation critics of the Biden trillion dollar stimulus packages warned that inflation might result from such huge boosts to the economy. But local economists say our inflation rate may be more of a reawakening than a red flag. Joining me to San Diego union Tribune business reporter, Phillip Molnar, Phil. Welcome. Speaker 2: 00:35 Thank you so much for having me, Maureen, Speaker 1: 00:37 What is San Diego's current rate of inflation Speaker 2: 00:41 From March, 2020 to March, 2021 prices increased 4.1%. That's according to the us Bureau of labor statistics. So that is basically our inflation rate and that includes everything from food to gasoline, to housing used vehicle costs just about everything is all piled into that number. Speaker 1: 01:02 And where does San Diego stand in relation to other areas of the country? Speaker 2: 01:06 The Bureau of labor statistics released data for 12 different cities yesterday. They cover about 22 Metro areas, but they're on a bi-monthly schedule. So they only gave us 12 cities yesterday, but of those 12 cities, San Diego was second place. Only Tampa had a higher inflation rate. So yes, we were quite high. Tampa had an inflation rate of 4.9%, which was a little bit higher than us. Speaker 1: 01:32 You know, when we hear the word inflation, we may think it's just something in condiments. Worry about how does inflation impact an individual person's or family's finances? Speaker 2: 01:42 So I think one of the first places you're going to notice prices going up or inflation affecting you is in food costs. So in San Diego year over year, our price for food is up 4.8% annually. That includes just about everything, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, bakery products, alcoholic beverages. So that's where it might hit you. First. Another way of might is gas prices. So gas prices are way up across California, but for all types of gas here in San Diego, it's up 14.2% year over year. So those are two things, especially no gas to get to work or to get to the grocery store. And then once he gets to the grocery store, prices are going to be more. So those are probably the two main ways you're going to notice it first, but there's other stuff too, such as housing, energy costs in your home, you know, buying a used vehicle, even medical care, all of that stuff is up. Speaker 1: 02:38 And why specifically are food prices? Increasing Speaker 2: 02:42 Food is sort of interesting. There's two different things going on one, there's been a few supply chain disruptions during the pandemic that have yet to recover. You know, we import a lot of food here in San Diego County and all that stuff. But another thing going on right now is a lot of restaurants are reopening across the, so if you're buying food for your home, you're also competing with a restaurant. So it's creating scarcity and prices are going up. Speaker 1: 03:07 Have these price increases been going on throughout the pandemic or is it just recently? Speaker 2: 03:12 It's mainly in the last two months that prices have really shot up. So our inflation has increased about 2% in a two month period. So if we were looking at inflation back in November, you know, early fall stuff like that, inflation was just about normal around that 2% range. But in the last two months is where things have really increased. And a large part of it is gasoline prices. Speaker 1: 03:39 Does San Diego typically have a higher inflation rate than the rest of the country? Speaker 2: 03:43 Yes. So San Diego always has a higher inflation rate. It's always in the top one or two cities. And the reason for that is our high housing costs because housing costs gets put into the inflation rate. So we're always going to be higher. So in the case of the data that came out yesterday, what happened is inflation increased everywhere across the nation. And it just so happens that it always runs higher in San Diego. So if it increases everywhere, we're going to always look like we have the highest inflation rate. So that's part of the reason why there wasn't anything really strongly in particular that happened in San Diego in the last 12 months, that was different than other parts of the nation. It's just inflation, always runs really hot. So we just rode the tide along with everybody else. Speaker 1: 04:28 So is this inflation hike, something to be worried about? What did economists tell you? Speaker 2: 04:33 It sort of depends on the economist you talk to, but the local one, I talked to Alan gin and economist over the university of San Diego. He says, this is a sign that the economy is just getting back to normal and things are going well, people are spending more money and that's causing prices to rise. So that's one way to look at it. And of course, a lot of officials at the Biden administration had actually anticipated inflation rising during this period. And their thought is that it's temporary. This is sort of the boost of the economy getting back and things might be able to slow down a little bit as the year goes on. Speaker 1: 05:07 I have been speaking with San Diego union Tribune business reporter, Phillip Molnar, Phillip, thank you. Thanks for having me. Speaker 3: 05:18 [inaudible].
