paying for the Trump administration\u2019s use of tariffs<\/a> to minimize purchases of imported goods? Is it foreign factory owners or importers? What part of those levies are eventually paid by consumers \u2013 added costs that increase inflation?<\/p>\nAnd how low must inflation go before the Federal Reserve reduces the interest rates it controls?<\/p>\n
Fed Chair Jerome Powell doesn\u2019t want to cut rates until the tariff fallout on inflation is clear. His critics, notably President Donald Trump, think he should have cut rates months ago.<\/p>\n
By the slice<\/p>\n
Look at one slice of the CPI math hit by trade tensions \u2013 the so-called \u201cdurable goods.\u201d<\/p>\n
These pricier items, designed to last three years or more, are often made in foreign factories. Think vehicles, electronics, furniture and appliances.<\/p>\n
Costs jumped in the pandemic era due to shortages tied to supply chain challenges. When inventories stabilized, discounts were common. Those price cuts seem to be ending.<\/p>\n
In LA-OC, prices for durable goods were falling at a 0.7% annual rate for July. But that\u2019s less discounting than 2.2% in 2025\u2019s first half or 2.3% in 2024. Prices rose 4.3% a year during 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Inland, durables rose at a 1% rate for July vs. dips of 0.7% in the first half and 4.4% in 2024. These items inflated 4.4% a year in 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Gasoline: Bargains, relatively speaking, can be found at the pump. However, declines are shrinking.<\/p>\n
In LA-OC, a gallon of gas was 3.7% cheaper in July after slipping at a 5.3% annual rate in the first half and down 5.7% in 2024. Gasoline rose 18.5% a year in 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Inland, gas fell at a 5.2% annual rate for July, compared with the first half\u2019s 6% dip and 5.3% in 2024. Gas rose 19% a year in 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Groceries: Inflation in your shopping cart remains tepid, but it\u2019s nudging higher.<\/p>\n
In LA-OC, the cost of \u201cfood at home\u201d rose at a 2.2% annual rate for July vs. 2.3% in the first half and 1.8% in 2024. Shoppers were hit by 6.3%-a-year hikes in grocery bills in 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Inland groceries were rising 2.1% a year for July, compared with 1.8% in the first half and a 0.4% dip in 2024. They soared 6.9% annually from 2021 to 2023.<\/p>\n
Housing: There was meek improvement for a typical household\u2019s largest expense.<\/p>\n
LA-OC housing costs rose 3.7% in the year ended in July vs. 3.8% in the first half, 4.3% in 2024 and 4.2% a year during 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Inland housing inflation ran 3.5% for July vs. 3.4% in the first half, 3.7% in 2024 and 6.8% a year during 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Pay pops<\/p>\n
Strong wage growth helps mitigate the higher cost of living for locals with generous employers.<\/p>\n
The federal employment cost index shows private-sector wages in the five-county region were up 4.1% a year in 2025\u2019s second quarter. That\u2019s Southern California\u2019s smallest hike since the third quarter of 2020, as pandemic business restrictions were icing the economy.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a modest drop. Wages rose at a 4.4% pace in the first quarter, 4.5% in 2024 and 5.5% a year during 2021-23. Local annual wage gains, by this measurement, averaged 2.5% in pre-pandemic 2007-19.<\/p>\n
Labor costs<\/p>\n
Higher salaries can pump up prices at businesses where labor is a significant cost.<\/p>\n
Take dining out. The state\u2019s $20-an-hour minimum wage for certain fast-food workers helped increase menu prices. This inflation has cooled but remains above other cost hikes.<\/p>\n
LA-OC\u2019s \u201cfood away from home\u201d got 4.6% pricier in the year ended in July vs. 5% in the first half, 4.8% in 2024 and 5.5% 2021-23 average.<\/p>\n
And inland, dining out rose at a 5.4% annual rate for July vs. 5.5% in the first half, 6.3% in 2024 and 6.7% during 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Or look at the price of hiring people to do various chores as measured by the \u201cservices less rent\u201d slice of the CPI.<\/p>\n
These LA-OC services were 4.4% pricier in the year ended in July vs. 4.2% in the first half, 4.7% in 2024 and 5.5% annually in 2021-23.<\/p>\n
And inland? Up 6.1% for July vs. 4% first half, 4.3% in 2024 and 6.4% a year during 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/a><\/p>\nOriginally Published: August 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pace of Southern California inflation rose slightly in July as trade tensions helped nudge the cost-of-living higher.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,2356,101,2402,13489,6011,11263,55336,452],"class_list":["post-78449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-california","tag-economy","tag-inflation","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-orange-county","tag-riverside-county","tag-san-bernardino-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78449","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=78449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}