Denver Channel: Inflation is at the highest rate since the 1980s

Posted at 6:11 PM, Dec 10, 2021 and last updated 7:22 PM, Dec 10, 2021

It’s the steepest increase in inflation since 1982. Along with increasing wages, a labor shortage, supply chain issues and production slowdowns, an increase in the money supply is also pushing prices upward.

Higher consumer demand is also contributing.

“Because the pandemic is kind of under control, we are going out and buying more, so there are higher prices because of the holiday season shopping as well,” said Kishore Kulkarni, a distinguished professor of economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

During a news conferences Friday, the Biden Administration attempted to temper reactions to the data, saying this consumer price index is a snapshot of the past and that energy prices, for example, have started to go down. Gas prices have dropped an average of nine cents from the previous month.