Inflation affects these products the most and these the least: EXPLANATION

Price hikes have plagued the US economy for months, straining household budgets and triggering an aggressive series of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Inflation has pushed prices for just about everything, including groceries, gasoline and rent. But some goods are hit harder by cost increases than others, and the cost increases affect some groups of people more than others.

In fact, blacks and Latinos have been disproportionately affected by the range of goods hardest hit by inflation, in light of the goods these groups consume compared to their counterparts, according to a study published in June by the New York Federal Reserve.

Here’s an overview of which goods are being hammered by inflation, and which purchases escape the worst.

Which products are hardest hit by inflation?

Those who have been shopping lately know that prices for store-bought food have risen in recent months. The show latest government data that food prices have outpaced headline inflation, rising nearly 11% year-on-year in July. Costs have risen even faster for food intended to be consumed at home, increasing by about 13%.

Bakers, beware. As of July, the price of flour and prepared flour mixes — when purchased in a U.S. city — has risen 22% in the past year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost of breakfast cereals has also risen dramatically, rising 16.4% year-on-year. But those price increases are preferable to what happened to a common breakfast alternative, eggs, which has seen a 38% price increase in the past year.

To get to the supermarket, many Americans get in the car. If they bought a new car last month, it cost them more than 10% more than a year ago, more than headline inflation, government data showed:.

Meanwhile, it takes one cruise past a roadside sign to know that gas prices have risen significantly over the past year. Although prices at the pump have been falling for almost two months, they remain very high. Gas prices have risen by 26% in the past year, according to AAA data.

Which products avoid the worst inflation?

As mentioned, total food prices have risen sharply. But a silver lining has emerged in that category: food eaten outdoors. As of July, when Americans went out to eat, prices rose 7.6% from a year ago — a slower rate of inflation than the 8.5% annualized rate for goods as a whole.

Healthcare, meanwhile, has managed to escape almost all the steep price increases. The medical care commodity index, a measure of the price of healthcare goods and services, rose 3.7% year-on-year in July — well below headline inflation and relatively close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target. .

Insurers and providers often negotiate health care prices well in advance, making them less sensitive to short-term price pressure.

Taken together, the total price of goods is showing signs of moderation. In July, the consumer price index rose by 8.5% compared to the same month a year earlier. While annual inflation is still high, it has declined since the breakneck pace in June, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 1.3% in July, which the agency said was flat from the increase in June.

The data offers policymakers and consumers hope that inflation has peaked. But, as with rising inflation, a cooling off in price increases is likely to extend in uneven ways across the array of products Americans buy every day.