Cobb Reporter

Inflation, one of the lingering consequences of the pandemic, continues to wave over the nation, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting that the consumer price index rose 5.4% year over year. 

The BLS also reported that the index for all items except for food and energy increased by 4% during the same period. The trends likely prompted Atlanta Federal Reserve Chair Raphael Bostic to veer from the Fed line on inflation, noting in a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta news release that it could last longer than first believed.

“The evidence is mounting that price pressures have broadened beyond the handful of items most directly connected to supply chain issues or the reopening of the services sector,” Bostic said. “If we scrutinize that report, we see that three-quarters of the CPI consumer market basket rose at rates higher than 3 percent during August.” 

As a result, Bostic said this justifies adjusting the fed’s emergency monetary policy. Bostic is currently a voting member of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, the body equipped to make such adjustments.

Supply chain issues have proved to be a growing problem and likely will continue to plague shoppers through the holiday season. Many leading companies, including Nike, Costco and General Mills, are anticipating shortages, according to CNBC. 

“We’ve seen cost-of-good increases especially in apparel, also costs of inbound shipping with the costs of containers, increases with transportation, trucking to get into distribution centers,” Keith Jelinek, managing director of the global retail practice at consulting firm Berkeley Research Group, told the network. “There’s only so much you can pass on to the consumer.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whose four-year term ends in February, has often stated that inflation is “transitory,” according to Nasdaq.com. Lingering supply line issues haven’t helped. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is a member of President Joe Biden's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, explained that the measured efforts by the administration are helping. 

 “I would say (they’ve been) limited so far,” Raimondo told CNN. “Not zero. On the margin, we've helped.”

To head off supply chain issues, the Associated Press reported that the Biden Administration brokered a deal paving the way for around-the-clock operations at the Port of Los Angeles. John Porcari, the administration’s “ports envoy,” told CNN the port has seen “dwell time” for rail cargo fall from more than 13 days to 4.4 days. 

CNN reported steep jumps in the price of fuel (up 42.1%) televisions (up 12.7%) and furniture (up 11.2%). There also have been increases in the prices of used cars, rental cars, new cars, appliances and eating in restaurants.

However, some trends fueling inflation are less obvious. In its Cato Journal, the Cato Institute determined that Americans continue to spend and debt is increasing, a key factor to inflationary pressures. These trends likely won't be reversed without intervention. 

While fall temperatures have remained above normal, once the weather cools and Americans turn up the heat, natural gas prices could prove to further exacerbate the issue, Real Clear Politics contends. Moreover, low workforce participation rates continue to slow the recovery. Moreover, Fox News reported that Biden Chief of Staff Ronald Klain was under fire for sharing a Tweet labeling inflation as a "high-class problem."