CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you feel like you’re still spending more at the grocery store, it’s not your imagination. Inflation in the US has reached the highest level since the 1980s and experts say these prices could continue to stick around for weeks.
"Prices are way up,” said Kirk Cochran, who went for a routine trip to the grocery store at the Harris Teeter on South Blvd.
Cochran said the price increases were noticeable.
“Fruit, paper goods, English muffins," Cochran listed, "everything. Everything is, I'm blown away.”
Cochran was shocked by the total.
“[It was] $82 for three little bags of stuff,” Cochran said.
"Everybody can attest to the fact that we’re paying more than we’ve ever paid before for basic necessities,” said market analyst Bill Dendy.
Dendy said the squeeze can be felt across every aisle.
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“We’re finding it in the meat, finding it in the milk section, finding it in the produce section, it’s across the board," he said.
Dendy noted inflation hasn’t been this high in decades.
“Reports have come out saying that we’re at the highest inflation rate we’ve seen in 40 years at 7% year over year,” he said.
Dendy said economists believe it’s in part because of increased post-pandemic spending coupled with supply chain issues.
“You release everybody to go buy things yet we don’t have things on the shelves, so you have nobody incentivized to give a discount because we can’t get things in stock," he explained.
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For the time being, Dendy said economists believe these higher prices are likely sticking around.
“We believe it will continue for another month or so because a lot of companies just this week have decided they're going to pass the increases they're experiencing on to the consumer," he said. "Last year a lot of companies just absorbed it and they earned a little less in profit.”
To save money, Dendy suggests canceling unused subscriptions and searching for discounts wherever possible.
“Many people are kind of lazy in our spending, we don’t make sure we’re maximizing the joy of every dollar we spend,” Dendy said.
Contact Lana Harris at lharris@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.