North Texans are facing a greater burden from inflation than the rest of the United States.
Consumer prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area rose 0.9% for the two months ending in January 2024 and 5.3% over the last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday. When excluding volatile food and energy prices, inflation advanced 1.1% for the two months ending in January and 6.2% year over year.
For comparison, annual inflation rose 3.1% nationally in January and 3.9% when excluding food and energy, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The fact that North Texans are paying higher prices than the rest of the nation can largely be explained by the region’s “rapid urbanization” and “booming real estate market,” said Keisha Blair, economist and founder of the Institute on Holistic Wealth, per Newsweek. “The demand for skilled labor has also driven up wages, contributing to overall inflationary pressures.”
While consumer prices have generally cooled around the nation, prices in DFW continue to remain high.
Inflationary increases for the two-month period ending in January were largely caused by increases in “shelter and recreation,” noted BLS Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak in the report.
While energy prices have eased over the last year due to falling gasoline prices, the cost of food continues to soar higher.
In general, food prices remained flat for the two months ending in January. This was largely due to prices for food at home (grocery store prices) offsetting prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases). Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs saw the largest price decline (-0.6%) over the two-month period.
Overall, DFW food prices rose 4.4% over the last 12 months, buoyed by a 7.3% increase in food away from home and a 2.2% increase in food at home. The report notes that all six major grocery store food groups were up year over year.
While DFW residents saw their food prices rise 4.4% over the last 12 months, national food prices only rose 2.6% over the same period, BLS data shows.
The inflation rate for food at home and food away from home also rose faster in DFW than nationally. On the national level, food prices at home and away from home rose 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively.