According to data released by the Department of Commerce, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 4% between June 2020 and June 2021. If you factor out food and energy costs, the metric rose by 3.5%, reaching the highest peak since July 1991. Wages have also been increasing, but not as quickly as inflation, resulting in “real average hourly earning” declining by 1.7% over the past year.
