Gas Isn’t The Only Thing Getting More Expensive In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY— There’s been a big jump at the gas pump lately in the Garden State. But New Jersey residents are also paying more for essential items such as food, furniture and clothes, according to federal statistics.

Gas prices have increased again in New Jersey and across the nation, due in large part to high crude oil prices, analysts say. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price of a gallon of regular gas in New Jersey on Friday was $3.31 – up six cents from a week ago.

Drivers were paying an average of $2.24 a gallon a year ago at this time. Read More: Gas Prices Rise In New Jersey, Around Nation Amid High Crude Prices

The price bump for gas in New Jersey comes despite state officials’ recent decision to lower the gas tax by 8.3 cents to a total of 42.4 cents per gallon. The decision was made as part of a set formula that heads of state – whether they’re Democratic or Republican – have little power to influence. Read More: Good News At The Pump; New Jersey Will Lower Gas Tax

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of gasoline has shot up 42.7 percent in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area since September 2020, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). And it may be causing a ripple effect for other essential goods, officials said.

Food prices rose 5.5 percent over the past year, including a 9 percent hike for meats, poultry, fish and eggs. Prices for “food at home” grew by 4.6 percent. Prices for “food away from home,” including at restaurants, increased 6.6 percent – the largest annual increase since February 1987.

Heating and cooling homes is also getting more expensive, officials noted. Household energy prices have increased by 10.7 percent since last year, the fastest pace in more than four years. Natural gas prices were 16 percent higher, and electricity prices were up 5.6 percent.

Other yearly price hikes in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area included:

• Higher prices for shelter (1.2 percent) included an increase in owners’ equivalent rent (1.2 percent)
• Prices for household furnishings and operations were up 8.7 percent over the year
• Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (13 percent) included jumps in the new vehicle market (12.6 percent) as well as used cars and trucks (25 percent)
• Prices for alcoholic beverages rose by 1.9 percent
• Prices for “apparel” rose by 4 percent

The New York-Newark-Jersey City area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York. It includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties in New Jersey, and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Nationwide, the CPI for all items increased by 0.4 percent in September.

However, the real average hourly earnings for all employees went up only 0.2 percent, officials noted.

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