The cost of living along the Wasatch Front jumped 1.1 percent from June to July - a huge increase in just one month, Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday. Nationally, consumer prices went up just 0.8 percent, according to the Labor Department.
And that's significant, considering the fact that nationally consumer prices unexpectedly jumped in July at the fastest pace in nearly two decades, mainly because of higher energy and food costs.
In Utah, inflation has become a huge issue, especially at the gasoline pump. The average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas Thursday, for example, was $4.09, according to travel-services company AAA Utah.
Though prices have fallen ever so slightly in recent days, Utah's average is higher - by as much as 56 cents a gallon - than all states except Hawaii and Alaska. That disparity led Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Wednesday to announce he has ordered the state's Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Commerce to more actively monitor and analyze Utah's fuel prices.
But gas is only one part of the inflation equation.
Rising food costs are having a big impact on Utah and its large families. Prices for groceries locally shot up 2.3 percent in July, compared with a 1.2 percent national increase (although that's not a direct comparison because of the way Wells Fargo compiles its nonseasonally adjusted figures). Many grocers attribute the jump to the high costs for diesel, which fuels the trucks transporting food to retailers.
Housing costs are another nagging problem. Years of home-price run-ups, combined with tighter lending standards, have made it more difficult for many Utah families to afford to buy a home. Those who can't buy have endured some daunting rent increases.
Rents in Salt Lake County, for example, grew by 9.2 percent in just the past year - the largest 12-month increase in more than a decade - a firm that tracks the apartment industry said Wednesday. That increase comes after two years of similarly hefty increases. Rents increased 5.1 percent from 2005-2006 and 8.8 percent from 2006-2007.
Utility costs are adding to the pain. Utah consumers in July began paying 20 percent more for the natural gas they were using in their homes after Questar Gas Co. received permission from the Utah Public Service Commission to increase its rates. That works out to an additional $12.50 per month for the typical customer.
And more utility increases are on the way. A 2.4 percent rate increase by Rocky Mountain Power, which works out to an extra $1.33 per month on the typical customer's electric bill, went into effect Wednesday. And starting today, Questar Gas will put another rate increase in place that works out to another $11 per year.
All the increases are creating even more inflation in other areas.
Marion Cummings, owner of Cummings Studio Chocolates in Salt Lake City, which has a store in The Gateway, has had to raise retail prices by 10 to 15 percent. That's because she faces similar increases in the cost of almost everything she has to buy for her business - from sugar and cream to the strawberries and other fruit she coats in chocolate each day.
She is reluctant to raise prices again out of fear it may hurt sales, but she might not have much choice.
"We use a lot of cream, and we've been seeing an increase there every other month," she said. This week, she also was notified by the packaging company that provides shipping boxes for her mail-order business that prices are going up as much as 20 percent.
"I've been in this business since the 1950s and I can't remember when I've ever seen prices jump this much so quickly. Anything that comes in by truck has gone up."
Lance and Lisa Pearson, of West Jordan, who have five children, ages 4 months to 12 years, say all the increases in consumer prices have them worried.
The couple has put the kibosh on most travel plans and big-ticket purchases in order to have more of a financial cushion should food and gas prices go even higher.
The Pearsons say one area of particular concern is health care, where price increases have impacted consumers of nearly every income level nationwide. Specifically, they have seen large increases in health insurance coverage, which prompted them to not use their economic-stimulus check from the federal government this year on a vacation or any other purchase not consider a necessity.
"Our economic stimulus check served mostly to cover the rising cost of our medical benefits," said Lance Pearson.
lesley@sltrib.com
Coping with high prices
Gasoline: To find the lowest prices, go to www.utahgasprices.com. Utahns track prices from around the state.
* Groceries: Go to www.pinchingyourpennies.com and click on "screaming deals by state" and then on "Utah." Scores of Utah families share money-saving deals and tips.
* Utilities: Go to www.PowerForward.utah.gov/tips.htm for tips on how to save energy at home, as well as other links designed to help you save money. PowerForward is a public-private partnership sponsored by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the state's electric utilities.
