Price jumps squeeze consumers
American consumers absorbed another surge in prices in May — a 0.6% increase over April and 5% over the past year, the biggest 12-month inflation spike since 2008.
The May rise in consumer prices that the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday reflected a range of goods and services now in growing demand as people increasingly shop, travel, dine out and attend entertainment events in a rapidly reopening economy.
The increased consumer appetite is bumping up against a shortage of components, from lumber and steel to chemicals and semiconductors, that supply such key products as autos and computer equipment, all of which has forced up prices. And as consumers increasingly venture away from home, demand has spread from manufactured goods to services — airline fares, for example, along with restaurant meals and hotel prices — raising inflation in those areas, too.
In its report Thursday, the government said that core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food costs, rose 0.7% in May after an even bigger jump in April, and is up 3.8% over the past 12 months.
From the cereal maker General Mills to Chipotle Mexican Grill to the paint maker Sherwin-Williams, a range of companies have been raising prices or plan to do so, in some cases to make up for higher wages that they’re now paying to keep or attract workers.
State jobless claims see notable dip
California workers filed the fewest unemployment claims for the week that ended June 5 since just before government agencies began to order wide-ranging business shutdowns to combat the coronavirus.
Statewide initial jobless claims totaled 53,000 last week, 19,000 fewer than the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported.
Last week’s unemployment filings in California were the lowest since the week that ended on March 7, 2020 — 15 months ago.
Nationwide, first-time unemployment filings totaled 376,000, down 9,000 from the 385,000 jobless claims that were filed for the week that ended May 29, the Labor Department reported. The U.S. claims numbers were adjusted for seasonal variations.
California accounted for 14.4% of all of the unemployment claims filed in the U.S., even though the state has only 11.8% of the nation’s labor force. The figures were derived by using comparable numbers that weren’t adjusted for seasonal volatility.
During March and April of last year, California lost a record-setting 2.71 million jobs. From May 2020 through April 2021, the state has regained 1.3 million of those lost positions.
J&J vaccine gets extensions
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that U.S. regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by six weeks.
The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the shots remain safe and effective for at least 4½ months. In February, the FDA originally authorized J&J’s vaccine for up to three months when stored at normal refrigeration levels.
Thursday’s announcement comes after state officials warned that many doses in storage would expire before the end of the month.
Vaccine expiration dates are based on information from drugmakers on how long the shots stay at the right strength. J&J said the FDA added six weeks based on data from ongoing studies assessing the vaccine’s stability.
The FDA has been reviewing expiration dates on all three U.S. authorized vaccines as companies have continued to test batches in the months since the shots first rolled out. The vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, authorized in December, have a six-month shelf life.
The J&J extension will help maintain vaccine supplies even as the number of Americans getting shots has slipped. The country averaged about 800,000 new injections per day last week. That’s down from a high of nearly 2 million daily shots two months ago. Government officials and companies have turned to incentives to encourage shots, including paid time off and $1 million lottery prizes.