{"id":17965,"date":"2025-07-18T03:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T03:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/17965\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T03:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T03:35:09","slug":"seattle-records-sharpest-inflation-increase-among-major-u-s-cities-kiro-7-news-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/17965\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle records sharpest inflation increase among major U.S. cities \u2013 KIRO 7 News Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE \u2014 This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.<\/a> <\/p>\n

In a new report from WalletHub<\/a>, the Seattle metro area (Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma) ranked as the No. 1 city experiencing the most significant inflationary pressure nationwide.<\/p>\n

The report measured each metro area\u2019s consumer price index (CPI), gauging the cost of goods and services that residents are paying in comparison to previous findings.<\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s inflation increases<\/p>\n

WalletHub identified that Seattle\u2019s CPI has increased by 2.7% over the past year. A smaller window of data, from May to June, uncovered that Seattle\u2019s CPI increased by 1.4%, more than half of the yearly CPI data, in just two months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalletHub compared 23 major MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation,\u201d the report stated. \u201cWe compared the Consumer Price Index for the latest month for which BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) data is available to two months prior and one year prior to get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

The index for all items, not including food and energy, increased by 2.4% over the year, according to WalletHub. The food index for Seattle\u2019s metro area increased by 4.8%, and the energy index rose by 5%.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers are pretty startling for Seattle, particularly in the short term,\u201d WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo told The Center Square<\/a>. \u201cThey went up 1.4% in just the last two months \u2013 and that was the highest jump of any of the 23 metro areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupo explained that they compiled data for the food index for the Seattle metro area, both grocery store purchases and dining at restaurants, which was a 4.8% year-over-year increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Seattle, food went up 1.5% in June. That\u2019s the index for what we call food at home, which are grocery store purchases,\u201d Lupo told The Center Square. \u201cThe food away from home index includes things like restaurants, cafeterias, and vending purchases, and that is up 1.6% in the past two months.\u201d<\/p>\n

A report by HelpAdvisor<\/a> outlined that the average American household spends more than $1,000 on groceries per month. In Washington, consumers spend nearly $290 each week on groceries, the fourth-highest nationwide.<\/p>\n

Other factors impacting the CPI<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s updated gas taxes<\/a> and minimum wage increases<\/a> could also be a factor in a rising CPI, as Seattle\u2019s minimum wage rose to $20.76 per hour across the state, while a 6-cent tax increase on gas has raised the state\u2019s gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the year, the energy index, including gasoline prices, went up less than a percent, so there was something going on there for it to jump almost two and a half percent in the last two months,\u201d Lupo told The Center Square. \u201c[The energy index] increased 4% over the past two months, gasoline prices are a big component of that, up 2.4%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huiying Chen, an associate professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, noted that there are several driving factors that contribute to rising inflation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigher tariff expectations, trade wars, conflicts, the gradual adjustment of supply chain worldwide, and other economic uncertainty contribute to inflationary pressure,\u201d Chen said. \u201cIn the last few months, grocery prices, housing, people, and businesses\u2019 expectations on higher inflation due to the potential higher tariffs and import prices drive up the overall price level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard S. Grossman, a professor at Wesleyan University, claimed the \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d and tariffs amid an \u201coverheated\u201d economy have had a massive impact on consumer spending.<\/p>\n

Inflation increases when the economy is overheated. This can occur when the government stimulates the economy by increasing spending and\/or lowering taxes,\u201d Grossman said. \u201cThe big beautiful bill act will reduce taxes and increase spending, which will be inflationary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Increased tariffs on imports will generate a substantial price shock, directly affecting prices consumers face on imported goods and also increasing prices of domestically produced goods that use imported inputs,\u201d Grossman continued.<\/p>\n

Follow Jason Sutich on X<\/a>. Send news tips here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a92025 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com. In a new report from WalletHub, the Seattle metro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":["post-17965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}