[sunrico90]

Continues to get more expensive

Prices as measured by the local inflation index were up more than 4 percent in 2006, the government reported today.

The cost of goods in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, including housing, food and gas costs, were on average 4.1 percent higher in December 2006 than the same time the year before.

That compares with a 2.5 percent increase in prices for the national urban average, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Excluding food and energy costs, the local area index increased 3.9 percent over the year.

Fuel and utility prices have increased more than 16.6 percent over the past year. Shelter and housing costs, which includes the price of homeowner's insurance, have increased more than 6 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases local area inflation data every two months.

In the past two months, costs for apparel, transporation and medical care decreased. In the case of medical care costs, the local area index declined 2.4 percent over the past two months, the largest-ever such decline in the index's history.

[lulu]

Well, it was bound to happen and doesn't surprise me. If everything has gone up like insurance , taxes & real estate. Business' have to up their prices.
I have noticed slight increases in foods/goods & it's slowly creeping up...some stores have been closing. Even with those popular dollar stores that were everywhere, where everything was a buck, have either closed shop or the remaining ones have increased their prices.
Some examples...At the Winn-Dixie grocery store yesterday , one could buy a 2 liter bottle of Coca-Cola for a $1, now it's 2x$3. Cat food when it was 10 cans for $3 now it's 10 for $3.99. A whole chicken would've been like $3 something, now can be double that.
Right now, it's not such a big deal but if this keeps up, eventually it's going to be felt by everyone.

[sunrico90]

The increase will be seen in the weekly supermarket bill, clothing and restaurants. Some services will also be forced to increase prices to stay open....