The March Consumer Price Index was another closely watched indicator of inflation in Dallas-Fort Worth and the U.S. as a whole.
Prices aren’t falling fast enough, either for consumers or for the Federal Reserve, which is looking for a reason to cut interest rates this year.
D-FW’s annual inflation rate in March was 4.9%, up 0.9% from January. Local inflation is reported every two months. U.S. inflation was up 0.4% from February, with annual inflation last month at 3.5%.
D-FW’s inflation rate has consistently exceeded the national average, and rent and the cost of owning or renting a home are still on the rise, as are the costs of eating out.
Increases in D-FW rent, utility bills, gas prices and restaurant menu prices were recorded.
“March’s increase was driven mostly by rising housing costs,” said Julie Percival, a southwest regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Rents in Houston have remained somewhat stable, but [they] It’s still on the rise in D-FW.”
Utility prices also rose last month, mostly due to higher natural gas prices. Used-car prices, which affect lower-income consumers the most, fell 2.5% from a year ago, Percival said, but are still higher than pre-pandemic prices.
Prices for food for households, or groceries, are stabilizing. Prices were up 1.8% in March from a year ago, with lower prices for dairy and related products offsetting higher prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs, she said.
Percival said sales of other prepared foods, such as cereals, sweet baked goods and frozen meals, rose due to higher labor and transportation costs that may now be factored into baked goods.
“Food prices are fixed. We hope that prices will stabilize and start to come down, but once new prices are set, they tend to stay there,” she said.
Restaurant prices were up 6% in March compared to a year ago, she said, in part due to rising labor costs: “There’s a lot of pressure to replace staff, so the rising labor costs are going to continue for some time.”
A year ago, the D-FW area’s CPI increase was 4.9%, the highest of any major metro area as measured by WalletHub. Its two-month change from January ranks even better, ranking 15th highest among the 24 cities tracked. The highest two-month percentage change was in Baltimore, at 1.7%.
Gasoline prices also rose in March. Tied to rising global crude oil prices, the volatile commodity varies in different parts of the U.S. Gasoline prices in Texas are lower than in some states where more complicated refining mandates and local taxes are driving up prices.
Gasoline prices are seasonal, having peaked in March four times since 2019, Percival said.
“We’ve always seen this at this time of year except for March 2020 when the pandemic caused everyone to stop driving and oil and gasoline prices started to crash,” she said.
Looking for more retail information? click here Read all the retail news and updates. click here Subscribe to D-FW Retail and other Dallas Morning News newsletters.
