Bay Area Inflation Cools in October, But Prices Remain High for Food, Housing, Utilities
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Bay Area inflation rate cooled to 2.8% annual increase in October, slowest pace since February 2021. Gasoline prices fell and some grocery items leveled off.
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But consumers say prices still too high, with food, electricity, and housing costs rising much faster than overall inflation rate.
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Nationwide inflation rate was 3.2% in October. Food prices up 39 months in a row.
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Compared to 2021, Bay Area prices up 8.9% overall, 13% for food, 21.2% for gasoline, 35.7% for utility electricity.
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Federal Reserve raising interest rates to combat inflation, but could induce recession by choking economic growth too much.