Annual inflation rate up in September
Many consumers, like Barbara Zona at Giunta’s Meat Farms in Farmingdale, shop around for the best bargains on food. (Oct. 19, 2011) Credit: Chris Ware
The higher cost of gasoline and housing helped boost prices in the metropolitan area 3.8 percent last month compared to a year ago.
The annual inflation rate in September reached its highest point in nearly three years, continuing a pattern of accelerating prices first seen in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The consumer price index grew more rapidly in October 2008, when it rose 4.3 percent year over year in the 31-county region that includes Long Island.
Housing costs rose 2 percent last month, their largest year-over-year gain since June 2009.
Compared to August, the price index in the metropolitan area climbed 0.2 percent last month. The increase was fueled by the fifth consecutive month of higher food costs for everything from apples and flour to eggs and pork chops, said bureau economist Martin Kohli.
He also noted that gasoline prices fell for the fourth consecutive month while electricity cost more compared with August.
Outside the Giunta's Meat Farms store in Farmingdale Wednesday, some customers said that inflation had forced them to be more selective in buying.
"I now go to several stores each week to buy groceries so I can get the bargains," said Maria Costello, 31, a homemaker from Bethpage. "You can really save a lot if you use coupons and the circulars . . . I don't know about other people, but I need to save every penny I can."
Grocery prices increased 5.2 percent in September compared with a year earlier. They also gained 0.4 percent last month from August.
Excluding food and energy, the regional price index rose 2.4 percent in the past year.
Nationally, prices rose 3.9 percent in September from 2010, and 2 percent if food and energy are excluded. The latter measure, called core inflation, is a key number closely monitored by the Federal Reserve's interest-rate-setting committee.
Economist Ryan Wang of HSBC Securities predicted the national inflation index would retreat in October because "food prices are still rising, but energy prices have stabilized. . . . Gasoline prices have started to decline in October, so all of September's increase should be reversed next month," he said.
Separately Wednesday, the state Taxation and Finance Department released data for September about shopping activity on Long Island.
September sales-tax receipts rose 8.3 percent in Nassau from a year ago and less than 1 percent in Suffolk.
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