Americans are experiencing pain from a rising cost of living.
Grocery store food prices were up 12.4% in October 2022 compared with October 2021, and restaurant prices rose 8.6% for the same period, according to USDA data.
Overall inflation has come down in recent months, with gas prices now $3.40 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA.
In the latest Gallup survey, 55% of Americans say rising prices have caused financial hardship. This percentage is essentially unchanged from August after increasing in two prior measurements. A steady 13% of Americans say higher prices are causing severe hardship.
Americans, in general, are reducing their spending, traveling less, and driving less to deal with the effects of inflation, Gallup found.
Inflation has taken a greater toll on lower-income Americans, with more than three-quarters saying they have experienced hardship because of rising prices, Gallup reported.
Less than half of middle-income Americans said they were experiencing hardship a year ago, but by January, the percentage jumped 10 points to 56% and has been 60% or higher in the past two measurements.
Upper-income Americans are the least likely to have been affected adversely by high prices, but the percentage in this group who have been has also increased over time, from 28% a year ago to 42% today, Gallup reported.
Gallup concluded its survey by writing: "There are signs that inflation is easing, even though prices remain higher now than they were a year ago. The fact that Americans' self-reports of financial hardship are leveling off rather than declining is likely a reflection of just how much prices have risen over the past year, and how much further inflation needs to subside before most Americans no longer feel burdened by it."
The results were from a Nov. 9-27 survey of more than 1,800 U.S. adults who are members of Gallup's probability-based panel. No margin of error was listed.
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