A recent study by WalletHub ranks the Dallas-Fort-Worth-Arlington metro area in third place among cities with the worst inflation rates.
The study compared 23 major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) based on data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to gauge inflation in the short- and mid-term.
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (DFW-A) area ranked third, behind Urban Honolulu in Hawaii and the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area in Michigan.
DFW-A was given an overall score of 62. The CPI increased 0.9% in the latest month compared to the two months prior. Compared to a year ago, it increased 4.90%.
The Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land area ranked 20, with an overall score of 16.52. The area noted a .80% CPI increase in the latest month compared to the previous two months and a 2.9% CPI change compared to the previous year.
The Minneapolist-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota, area ranked the best of the 23 MSAs in the study, scoring 8.17. The CPI increased by only .6% over the previous two months and only 2.7% over the past year.
“The most recent CPI numbers measure inflation [nationwide] at 3.5% per year. In terms of what is pulling that number up, it is mostly services (auto repairs, car insurance, hospital services, and housing),” Christopher Conlon, associate professor of economics at Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, told WalletHub.
“Inflation in goods looks largely under control today, and recent studies show that the remaining inflation in services may be harder to bring down using additional interest rate hikes. It is worth noting that nearly no experts are calling for additional rate hikes today,” Conlon added.