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 Couples across Illinois are planning for the upcoming
Valentine’s Day weekend, but gathering their loved one’s favorite flowers or
candy comes with a painful reminder: inflation has made virtually everything
more expensive in the past year.
Inflation has reached its highest level since 1982, with average consumer prices
jumping 7.5% from January 2021-January 2022, according to the most recent
Consumer Price Index data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices
across the entire basket of goods on which the index is based have risen an
average of 7.5%, but inflation has hit each component of this upcoming date
night differently. Making matters worse, pretty much all prices have been rising
faster than wages in Illinois, which only grew by 3.6% in 2021.
Let’s start with the quintessential Valentine’s Day gifts. Expect a trip to the
flower shop to cost 4% more this year. And the candies? That’s an extra 4.8%,
too.
Heading out to dinner and a show? That’ll cost 7.1% and 5.5% more than last
year, respectively. Thinking about grabbing drinks before or after? Those prices
are up 4.2%. Getting dressed up for the occasion? Women’s dress prices are up
11.1%, while men’s suits and sport coats cost 13.6% more this year.
Don’t forget transportation for the night out on the town. Vehicle prices are at
a premium. Used vehicle prices are up 40.5% and new vehicle prices are up 12.2%.
Oh, and the fuel? An extra 40%.
Maybe, with Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday, a trip out of town for a long
weekend is the plan. Good news: airfare prices are only up 4.9%, but that’s just
about where the good news ends. The hotel? That’ll be an additional 23.6%.
Rental car to get around? Prices are up by 29.3%.
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So, all these price increases are creating second
thoughts about date night? Maybe it would be best to just stay in
this year, have a quiet meal and get that significant other a nice
gift. Well, sorry, but the cost of food for home consumption is up
7.4%. For delivery, that’ll be an extra 9%. As to that gift, jewelry
will carry an 6.5% inflation surcharge this year.
In most years, rising prices are an inconvenience, but when wages
don’t keep up they threaten people’s way of life. This is especially
true now, with more than 333,000 Illinoisans still out of work. The
state’s job market is one of the least recovered since COVID-19 and
state-mandated lockdowns caused more than 1 millionIllinoisans to
lose their jobs.
Unfortunately for Illinoisans, inflation follows a long line of
taxes that have eaten into their purchasing power. State taxes and
fees have gone up by nearly $5 billion annually since Gov. J.B.
Pritzker took office.
Now, during an election year, Pritzker is proposing a temporary
suspension in grocery taxes – Illinois is one of only 13 states to
impose such a tax. He’s also offering a one-year freeze in the
automatic increase in gas taxes, which he doubled in 2019 to
second-highest in the nation, as a way to put money “back” into
Illinoisans’ pockets.
Unless these changes become permanent, they’re nothing more than an
election-year gimmick that will leave Illinoisans to battle higher
prices and taxes next Valentine’s Day. Not much to love there. |
