SEATTLE — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
In a new report from WalletHub, the Seattle metro area (Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma) ranked as the No. 1 city experiencing the most significant inflationary pressure nationwide.
The report measured each metro area’s consumer price index (CPI), gauging the cost of goods and services that residents are paying in comparison to previous findings.
Seattle’s inflation increases
WalletHub identified that Seattle’s CPI has increased by 2.7% over the past year. A smaller window of data, from May to June, uncovered that Seattle’s CPI increased by 1.4%, more than half of the yearly CPI data, in just two months.
“WalletHub compared 23 major MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation,” the report stated. “We compared the Consumer Price Index for the latest month for which BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) data is available to two months prior and one year prior to get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term.”
The index for all items, not including food and energy, increased by 2.4% over the year, according to WalletHub. The food index for Seattle’s metro area increased by 4.8%, and the energy index rose by 5%.
“The numbers are pretty startling for Seattle, particularly in the short term,” WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo told The Center Square. “They went up 1.4% in just the last two months – and that was the highest jump of any of the 23 metro areas.”
Lupo explained that they compiled data for the food index for the Seattle metro area, both grocery store purchases and dining at restaurants, which was a 4.8% year-over-year increase.
“For Seattle, food went up 1.5% in June. That’s the index for what we call food at home, which are grocery store purchases,” Lupo told The Center Square. “The food away from home index includes things like restaurants, cafeterias, and vending purchases, and that is up 1.6% in the past two months.”
A report by HelpAdvisor outlined that the average American household spends more than $1,000 on groceries per month. In Washington, consumers spend nearly $290 each week on groceries, the fourth-highest nationwide.
Other factors impacting the CPI
Washington’s updated gas taxes and minimum wage increases could also be a factor in a rising CPI, as Seattle’s minimum wage rose to $20.76 per hour across the state, while a 6-cent tax increase on gas has raised the state’s gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon.
“Over the year, the energy index, including gasoline prices, went up less than a percent, so there was something going on there for it to jump almost two and a half percent in the last two months,” Lupo told The Center Square. “[The energy index] increased 4% over the past two months, gasoline prices are a big component of that, up 2.4%.”
Huiying Chen, an associate professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, noted that there are several driving factors that contribute to rising inflation.
“Higher tariff expectations, trade wars, conflicts, the gradual adjustment of supply chain worldwide, and other economic uncertainty contribute to inflationary pressure,” Chen said. “In the last few months, grocery prices, housing, people, and businesses’ expectations on higher inflation due to the potential higher tariffs and import prices drive up the overall price level.”
Richard S. Grossman, a professor at Wesleyan University, claimed the “big, beautiful bill” and tariffs amid an “overheated” economy have had a massive impact on consumer spending.
Inflation increases when the economy is overheated. This can occur when the government stimulates the economy by increasing spending and/or lowering taxes,” Grossman said. “The big beautiful bill act will reduce taxes and increase spending, which will be inflationary.”
Increased tariffs on imports will generate a substantial price shock, directly affecting prices consumers face on imported goods and also increasing prices of domestically produced goods that use imported inputs,” Grossman continued.
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