Even hip-hop icon Fat Joe is feeling the sting of inflation.
“My wife is upset with the economy because everybody’s doing terrible out here — and we have more friends that are middle class to poor than we have rich friends,” the millionaire “Lean Back” singer said in a new edition of Yahoo Finance Presents. “You know, my wife came home from the supermarket. She had one bag. She was like: ‘It was $350… one bag.’ It’s crazy.”
While the stock market embraced the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), the reality is that inflation remains stubbornly high and a major problem for households. The October report showed that the overall cost of groceries is up by 12.4% compared to a year ago.
The CPI Index for October reflected a 7.7% increase over last year and 0.4% increase over the prior month. Excluding food and energy prices, the CPI rose 6.3% over the past 12 months. Meantime, the energy index surged 17.6% from a year ago and food was higher by 10.9%.
A new poll from Moody’s Analytics found that consumers are spending hundreds of dollars more on a basket of goods and services than a year ago.
Fat Joe — the author of the new book “The Book of Jose: A Memoir” — recalls when his mom was able to buy a gallon of milk and a pack of cigarettes for under $10. With the price of eggs up 10% year-over-year, Joe is hopeful that the Biden administration helps fix the inflation problem for Americans.
“So we got to turn it around,” the music great added. “We need Joe Biden. We fought hard to get the Democrats in power. We need to see what they got. They can do it. Anything’s possible. I’m a believer. But thus far, I’m waiting to see the results.”
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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Read More: Fat Joe is feeling the sting of inflation at the supermarket