Over the past 18 months, Americans have faced ongoing waves of steep price hikes as inflation hit 40-year highs. It started with used and then new cars, later whole chickens and ground beef. Now it’s gas at the pump or an affordable two-bedroom apartment in Nashville. The forces fueling inflation keep changing.
What is causing inflation: The factors driving prices high each month
July 26, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
At the start, inflation could be dodged by holding onto that old car or avoiding air travel. Now, record prices are concentrated on essentials such as groceries, housing and energy, raising the cost of just getting by for many.
Here is a breakdown of what has fueled inflation each month since the start of last year.
How much different items contributed to overall price growth each month
JAN. 2021
Energy prices returned to pre-pandemic levels in Feb. 2021 after a crash in gas prices early in the pandemic
Housing
Groceries
Travel & dining
Other services
Energy
MARCH
Other
goods
The cornavirus vaccine became available to all adults in Apr. 2021, spurring travel & dining spending. Used-vehicle
prices leaped as shortages and delays held back sales of new vehicles.
Used
cars
and
trucks
MAY
Groceries
Housing
Energy
Beef and pork pushed up the overall cost of groceries as increased demand collided with labor shortages and higher transportation costs.
Other
goods
Other
services
AUG.
Demand for used vehicles and travel & dining cooled during an upsurge of covid cases.
DELTA
WAVE
OCT.
Energy
Oil demand
recovered more
quickly than
supply, pushing up energy prices. In late Nov.,
Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Housing
Groceries
Used cars
and trucks
Travel &
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
OMICRON
WAVE
JAN.
2022
Energy prices spiked across the world after Russia invaded Ukraine.
MARCH
Energy
Fertilizer shortages from Ukraine, livestock illness and poor harvests contributed
to rising grocery
prices.
Travel &
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
Housing costs grew as rents rose and soaring home prices put homeownership out of reach for many.
JUNE
How much different items contributed to overall price growth each month
January 2021
Energy prices returned to pre-pandemic levels in February 2021 after a crash in gas prices early in the pandemic.
Energy
Housing
Groceries
Travel and dining
Other services
Used cars
and trucks
The coronavirus vaccine became available to all adults in April 2021, spurring increased demand for travel and dining. Used-vehicle prices leaped as shortages and delays held back sales of new vehicles.
April
Other
goods
Beef and pork pushed up the overall cost of groceries as increased consumer, restaurant and global market demand collided with labor shortages and higher transportation costs.
July
DELTA WAVE
Demand for used vehicles and travel and dining shrank during an upsurge of covid cases.
October
Energy
Oil demand recovered more quickly than supply, pushing up energy prices. In late November Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Housing
Groceries
Used cars
and trucks
OMICRON WAVE
January 2022
Travel and dining
Other goods
Other services
Energy prices spiked across the world after Russia, a major global supplier of fossil fuels, invaded Ukraine.
Consumer spending pivoted from goods to travel and dining and other services in spring 2022
Shortages of fertilizer from Ukraine, poor harvests and livestock illness all contributed to rising grocery prices.
Housing costs continued to rise, reflecting dramatic rent increases as soaring home prices put homeownership out of reach for many.
Energy
Housing
Other
services
June
Groceries
Used cars
and trucks
How much different items contributed to overall price growth each month
JANUARY 2021
Housing
Energy
Energy prices returned to pre-pandemic levels in February 2021 after a crash in gas prices early in the pandemic.
Groceries
MARCH
The coronavirus vaccine became available to all adults in April 2021, spurring increased demand for travel and dining. Used-vehicle prices leaped as delays and shortages held back sales of new vehicles.
Other
services
Used cars
& trucks
Travel &
dining out
Other
goods
MAY
Beef and pork pushed up the overall cost of groceries as increased consumer, restaurant and global market demand collided with labor shortages and higher transportation costs.
JULY
DELTA WAVE
Energy
Demand for used vehicles and travel and dining shrank during an upsurge of covid cases.
SEPTEMBER
Other
goods
Oil demand recovered more quickly than supply, pushing up energy prices. In late November Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Housing
Other services
Travel and dining out
Used cars and trucks
Groceries
OMICRON WAVE
JANUARY 2022
Energy prices spiked across the world after Russia, a major global supplier of fossil fuels, invaded Ukraine.
Consumer spending pivoted from goods to travel and dining and other services in spring 2022.
Shortages of fertilizer from Ukraine, poor harvests and livestock illness all contributed to rising grocery prices.
Housing costs continued to rise, reflecting dramatic rent increases as soaring home prices put homeownership out of reach for many.
Energy
Housing
Travel
and
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
JUNE
Groceries
Used cars and trucks
How much different items contributed to overall price growth each month
JAN. 2021
Energy prices returned to pre-pandemic levels in Feb. 2021 after a crash in gas prices early in the pandemic
Housing
Groceries
Travel &tdining
Other services
Energy
MARCH
Used
cars
and
trucks
The coronavirus vaccine became available to all adults in Apr. 2021, spurring travel & dining spending. Used-vehicle prices leaped as shortages and delays held back sales of new vehicles.
Other
goods
MAY
Groceries
Housing
Energy
Beef and pork pushed up the overall cost of groceries as increased demand collided with labor shortages and higher transportation costs.
Other
goods
Other
services
AUG.
Demand for used vehicles and travel & dining cooled during an upsurge of covid cases.
DELTA
WAVE
OCT.
Energy
Oil demand recovered more quickly than supply, pushing up energy prices. In late Nov., Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Housing
Groceries
Used cars
and trucks
Travel &
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
OMICRON
WAVE
JAN.
2022
Energy prices spiked across the world after Russia invaded Ukraine.
MARCH
Energy
Fertilizer shortages from Ukraine, livestock illness and poor harvests contributed to rising grocery prices.
Travel &
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
Housing costs grew as rents rose and soaring home prices put homeownership out of reach for many.
JUNE
How much different items contributed to overall price growth each month
JANUARY 2021
Housing
Energy prices returned to pre-pandemic levels in February 2021 after a crash in gas prices early in the pandemic.
Groceries
Energy
MARCH
The coronavirus vaccine became available to all adults in April 2021, spurring increased demand for travel and dining. Used-vehicle prices leaped as delays and shortages held back sales of new vehicles.
Other
services
Used cars
and trucks
Travel and
dining out
Other
goods
MAY
Beef and pork pushed up the overall cost of groceries as increased consumer, restaurant and global market demand collided with labor shortages and higher transportation costs.
JULY
DELTA WAVE
Energy
Demand for used vehicles and travel and dining shrank during an upsurge of covid cases.
SEPTEMBER
Housing
Other
goods
Oil demand recovered more quickly than supply, pushing up energy prices. In late November Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Other services
Travel and dining out
NOVEMBER
Used cars and trucks
Groceries
OMICRON WAVE
JANUARY 2022
Energy prices spiked across the world after Russia, a major global supplier of fossil fuels, invaded Ukraine.
Consumer spending pivoted from goods to travel and dining and other services in spring 2022.
Shortages of fertilizer from Ukraine, poor harvests and livestock illness all contributed to rising grocery prices.
Housing costs continued to rise, reflecting dramatic rent increases as soaring home prices put homeownership out of reach for many.
Energy
Housing
Travel
and
dining
Other
goods
Other
services
JUNE
Groceries
Used cars and trucks
Recent inflation has been a bit different than the last big wave of price increases 40 years ago. Its causes keep shifting.
Of course, some price growth problems have been there all along, like a constant background hum, such as higher prices for slower shipping because of fractured supply chains or the difficulty of meeting pent-up consumer demand.
But other inflationary problems have more to do with the complicated trends of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to price hikes that ebb and flow. Money that might have paid for in-person services like gym memberships went instead to at-home fitness equipment. When coronavirus cases fell, people flocked to travel. When they rose, eating out was swapped for groceries.
Businesses didn’t always have enough stock on hand to meet the demand and couldn’t make or ship goods fast enough to catch up. So some prices skyrocketed, often for items that weren’t a major part of a family budget.
But that changed this year, when inflation began to spread into nearly every facet of the economy. By the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February, causing staggering price increases at the gas pump, many people were already facing big price hikes in essentials such as food and shelter.
The Federal Reserve has begun to take steps to combat inflation. It can’t create more goods or untangle supply chain snarls, but it can increase interest rates, which it has done three times so far this year. Higher interest rates slow demand and the economy by raising the cost of lending.
Coming off another record rate of inflation for June, the Fed is expected to announce higher rates Wednesday in a bid to head off any bigger price waves.
About this story
The seasonally adjusted effect on all items measure from Table 6 of the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s monthly consumer price index report was used to calculate how much different items contributed to overall price growth each month. Travel and dining out includes food away from home, car and truck rental, airline fares and lodging away from home. Housing refers to all types of shelter except lodging away from home; groceries refers to all food at home. Other goods and other services refer to all commodities and services not otherwise specified.