Midwest Inflation Rate rose 2.4 percent since June 2022

Inflation rates have come out for June, and the national inflation rate has risen 3.0 percent. However, The Kansas Constitutional focuses on issues regarding Kansas specifically, so we are looking at how high inflation has risen in our region, specifically. The Midwest Region is made up of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Together, these states are experiencing a lower inflation than the country as a whole, with an inflation rate of 2.4 percent. Our inflation is worse than the Northeast Region, which is experiencing an inflation rate of 2.2 percent. The West Region is experiencing an inflation rate of 3.5 percent, and the South Region is experiencing an inflation rate of 3.3 percent. The Midwest inflation rate has risen 0.3 percent from May 2023 to June 2023.

Inflation is a stealth tax, meaning it is a tax that is levied in a way that is supposed to go unnoticed as a tax. Inflation occurs for many different reasons, the main one being reckless government spending.

When it comes to ‘food and beverages,’ the Midwest is experiencing an inflation rate of 6.0 percent. The main subcategory driving this inflation comes from ‘cereals and bakery products’ with a 9.3 percent inflation rate. ‘Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs’ are keeping this inflation rate low with an inflation of 0.3 percent from June 2022. In the subcategories, we are seeing a little bit of a deflation from May 2023 and in the month span from May 2023 to June 2023, we have not seen any inflation or deflation for ‘food and beverages’ as a whole.

From June 2022 to June 2023, ‘housing’ has experienced an inflation rate increase of 5.0 percent. ‘Rent of primary residence’ is the subcategory that has kept this inflation up with a 7.3 percent rise. There is a dramatic deflation in the subcategory of ‘utility (piped) gas services.’ Last month, this subcategory had a deflation of 23.2 percent from May of last year. This month, this subcategory is experiencing a deflation of 31.2 percent from June of last year.

The category of ‘transportation’ has a deflation of 4.2 percent. This is largely driven by motor fuel which has a deflation of 28.4 percent. Motor fuel has four subcategories for different types of gasoline, all of which are experiencing a deflation of more than 20 percent.

To get a fuller picture of the inflation rates in the Midwest, you can click here.