Miami is the metropolitan area with the highest inflation in the United States
According to the monthly report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of housing is the main reason why South Florida ranks first
Miami surpassed Phoenix as the area with the highest inflation in the country. (WalletHub)
Miami outperformed Phoenix as the area with the highest inflation in the country in December. Stubbornly rising housing costs, which have seen prices cool in the rest of the United States, are primarily responsible for South Florida to rank first on this infamous list.
Despite this, the Miami metropolitan area (comprised of Broward, Miami-Dade and Miami-Dade counties) Palm Beach) saw its annual inflation drop slightly from 10.1% in October to 9.9% in December. According to the report of the Labor Statistics Bureau (BLS), the area comprised of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Mesa experienced a larger slowdown in consumer price growth, falling from 12.1% to 9.5% in the same period.
The housing market cooled considerably across the country after the Fed Reserve < /b>raised interest rates to control inflation. But in Miami, prices are still through the roof. Housing costs rose 3.9% from October to December, according to figures from the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Prices for Housing CPIs tend to be lower than real-time rent changes because most leases are long-term. Still, even private data shows that monthly rental prices in South Florida aren't slowing at the same pace as other parts of the country.
Although the housing market has been cooling across the country, prices in Miami are still through the roof.
Annual inflationthrough December 2022 showed a 17.2% increase in the median home price for the Miami metropolitan area (17.3 for homeowners and 18.6 for renters). These figures are markedly higher than the national average, which closed at 7.5%. With an increase nearly 10 points above the national average, South Florida was the region with the highest price rises.
WalletHub , a personal finance company, compared 23 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to determine the cities where inflation increased the most. For this, two key metrics were used: Change in the consumer price index (last month vs. 2 previous months); Change in the Consumer Price Index (last month vs. 1 year ago).
Based on the analysis, these are the 10 metropolitan areas most affected by inflation:
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 1.00% vs. 1 year ago: 9.90%
2. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 1.00% vs. 1 year ago: 9.60%
3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 0.30% vs. 1 year ago: 8.40%< /p>
4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 0.60% vs. 1 year ago: 7.50%
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 0.10% vs. 1 year ago: 8.40%
6. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona
Last month vs. previous 2 months: -0.70% vs. 1 year ago: 9.50%
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 0.60% vs. 1 year ago: 7.00%
8. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
Last month vs. previous 2 months: 0.50% vs. 1 year ago: 6.90%
9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia
Last month vs. previous 2 months: -0.50% vs. 1 year ago: 8.10%
10. New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania
Last month vs. prior 2 months: 0.40% vs. 1 year ago: 6.30%
But it wasn't all bad news for South Florida. The inflation rate for other sectors beyond housing was close to or below the national average. While annual food inflation nationwide was 10.4%, in Miami it was 8.8%.
Despite increases in housing, inflation in other sectors was at or below the national average. (BLS)
Regarding energy, the increase in prices was 5.2% in the 12 months ending in December. This reflected an increase of 16.7% in electricity and 11.9% in natural gas. At the same time, gasoline prices decreased by 2.3% during the same period, after reaching record figures in June.
For Dr. Martha Cruz Zúñiga , professor of economics and head of that department at the Catholic University of America and one of the experts consulted by Wallet Hub, it is supply and demand that are driving current inflation. “On the supply side, the effects of prolonged lockdowns during the pandemic strongly affected access to production inputs”, on the other hand “consumer demand increased due to limited access to some goods and services during the pandemic and, every time there is a greater demand, there will be a push for prices to rise”, he explained.
According to the expert, current inflation may be anticipating a recession. “Historically, most periods of high inflation are followed by recessions”
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