Gimme Shelter: Inflation Pushing Up Rents, Garbage Collection, Electricity

Americans looking for shelter from inflation are unlikely to find any at home.

Inflation under the Biden administration has sent the costs of maintaining a household soaring. Rent, electricity, and garbage collection prices are all up nearly six percent.

The price of rent and associated shelter costs have jumped more than five percent since March 2023:

— Rent of primary residence: Up 5.7 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.4 percent since February 2024

— Owners’ equivalent rent (the opportunity cost of not renting out the home you own): Up 5.9 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.4 percent since February 2024

— Water and sewer maintenance services: Up 5.1 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.5 percent since February 2024

— Garbage and trash collection: Up 5.8 percent since March 2023 / Down 0.1 percent since February 2024

— Electricity: Up 5.3 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.7 percent since February 2024

— Repair of household items: Up 18.0 percent since March 2023 / No data reported on February 2024

— Homeowners and renters insurance: Up 4.6 percent since March 2023/ Up 0.5 percent since February 2024

Overall, the consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in March 2023 compared with February 2024. The headline index is up 3.5 percent when compared with 12 months earlier, according to Breitbart News’s John Carney:

Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent increase in the month-t0-month figure and a 3.4 percent rise over 12 months.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4 percent for the month, matching the prior month and higher than the 0.3 percent expected. Compared with a year ago, core inflation is up 3.8 percent, also beating expectations and matching the February figure.

When the consumer price index jumped higher in January, many analysts said it was likely a seasonal anomaly and forecast inflation would soon start falling again. After three months of hotter-than-expected inflation, that is no longer a plausible interpretation. Over the last three months, core inflation has risen at a 4.6 percent annual rate. That is the highest three-month annualized inflation for any period between August 1991 and 2020, according to Harvard economist Jason Furman.

Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.