Many Americans are quite angry about the rate of inflation which reached a 9% annual rate in the middle of 2022 and is still running at 2.9% as compared to the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Some people distrust the published statistics believing they personally are experiencing even more rapid price increases. The Consumer Price Index reflects price increases for a very broad basket of goods and services that may well be quite different from the purchasing habits of any given individual. The following graphic shows that the overall CPI increased a total of 20.9% between February of 2020 and July of this year. However, note that there is a great deal of variation in inflation in the underlying categories.
One interesting note is that medical care and educational costs, which historically have been the subject of considerable criticism due to rapid price increases, grew at the lower end of the range this time around.