The Price Of These Essential Household Items Jumped According To New Inflation Data

Inflation is pushing the price of furniture, clothing, and appliances faster than in previous months and some economists are pointing the finger at new tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. According to newly released statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for household items in June went up 1.9% for appliances, 1% for furnishings (furniture and decorative accessories) and 0.4% for clothing and personal apparel in the course of a month. This is significantly higher than the 0.3% price increase for furnishings and 0.8% hike for appliances in the month of May. As for apparel items, they previously declined in price by 0.4% in May and 0.2% in April.

The price increases are the result of companies passing some of the costs of tariffs to consumers, Stephen Juneau, an economist at Bank of America, explained to the New York Times. And it is not just household items. The price for other consumer goods, including groceries, went up as well. Due to tariffs boosting inflation, the price of lending will remain high since the Federal Reserve will not likely be cutting interest rates any time soon, reports have noted.

Tariffs are a tax on foreign goods, which are used to protect domestic manufacturing and to raise revenue. Indeed, President Donald Trump sees tariffs as a means of collecting money from foreign nations, including allies, who he feels has been ripping off the United States. And tariffs are collecting more revenue. In April, the U.S. Department of Treasury posted a stunning report that the nation had a $258 billion budget surplus, a figure that included $15.6 billion in custom duties (also known as tariffs).

But it isn't foreign companies who will pay for the bulk of these tariffs. A lot of that cost is passed on to consumers, which has an impact on a family's budget. As the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, the Consumer Price Index for all items went up 2.7% in June from the previous year and 0.3% from the previous month. In contrast, the CPI went up just 2.4% from the previous year and 0.1% from the previous month in May.

As for other important items, food costs went up by 3% in June from the previous year and 0.3% from the previous month, the Bureau of Labor Statics said. Gasoline prices of all kinds went down 8.3% from the previous year, but it headed upward from the previous month in June by 1%. In contrast, gas prices went down 2.4% in May from the previous month.

According to the New York Times, economists worry that price hikes could increase even further if a new round of tariffs are slapped on imports from the European Union and various other countries in August, as the Trump administration plans. They also fear that the price hikes tariffs cause may create stagflation, in which prices continue to go up even as the economy suffers.

Still, not all items went up in price. Used cars and truck prices fell by 0.7% from the previous month in June, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics said. In addition, the price for new vehicles also fell in June by 0.3%. This was despite anticipation that the Trump tariffs would even make some American cars more expensive. A slide of demand is the likely culprit for the price cuts as consumers forego car shopping in anticipation of higher costs. After all, tariffs hit luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz hard, which reported selling 9% fewer cars and 10% less vans in the second quarter.

Yet even with the spike in prices, consumer confidence hit a five-month high even as most prices head upward, according to a newly released survey from the University of Michigan. But as the survey pointed out, consumer sentiment was still 16% below what it was in December 2024 and "well below its historical average."