Inflation’s pinch starts to get real

The price of a can of Coca-Cola? Likely going up. A package of Pampers? That too. Plane tickets? They also might be more expensive. Such items and more might cost more in the coming months as people start feeling the effects of higher fuel prices and raw-material costs as well as a range of tariffs.

Janette Hendricks said she has noticed higher prices on “just about everything” in the past three months or so. That has put a little pressure on the recently retired nurse in Washington. So she goes shopping less often, “makes things stretch,” and she always shops for things on sale. She said she has also considered going back to work to have more cushion in the budget.

“The economy is doing great, so why is everyone doing so poorly?” she asked.

The consumer price index, the government’s primary measure of inflation, rose 2.9 percent in June from a year earlier, the fastest increase in six years. Starbucks had said in June that it had raised the price of a regular drip coffee, and McDonald’s said it raised prices when it reported its latest sales figures.

Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest makers of consumer products, had said Tuesday that Pampers prices will increase by an average of 4 percent in North America, while the Bounty, Charmin and Puffs brands could see 5 percent increases.

Gas prices have surged more than 24 percent in the past year. Rent and other housing costs were up 3.4 percent in June compared with a year earlier, and auto insurance has jumped more than 7 percent.

Hendricks said she and her husband also drive far less as they have noticed gas prices on the rise.

The Federal Reserve, which tries to keep inflation at or slightly above 2 percent, has been raising interest rates to make sure that price pressures don’t get out of hand. Though President Donald Trump has criticized the central bank for raising rates, economists expect increases again in September and perhaps December.

Some of the higher prices also come as companies react to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber from Canada and on $34 billion of imports from China. And Beijing has imposed new duties on U.S. exports.

Overall, the aluminum and steel tariffs could cost the U.S. beverage industry nearly $348 million, according to The Beer Institute. Coca Cola has announced plans to raise prices, citing the cost of raw materials and packaging.

The consumer price index, the government’s primary measure of inflation, rose in June from a year earlier, the fastest increase in six years.

Getty Images Nicole Brisson