Prices on staples continue to increase locally

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David Hucks
David Huckshttps://myrtlebeachsc.com
David Hucks is a 12th generation descendant of the area we now call Myrtle Beach, S.C. David attended Coastal Carolina University and like most of his family, has never left the area. David is the lead journalist at MyrtleBeachSC.com

Horry County residents are paying more at the pump, at restaurants, and local grocery stores. Despite national assurances attempting to minimize inflation fears, local prices continue to rise.

The price of eggs increased 200% over the past year alone. Eggs at most local grocers are now $4.99 per dozen. Those same eggs cost Horry County residents 49 cents per dozen January 2020.

Gas now stands at $2.75 per gallon. The price jumped more than 30 cents per gallon last month. That same gas was $1.79 in January 2020.

Bread now averages $3.45 per loaf.

Public sources continue to look for someone to blame.

INFLATION IS A TAX ON FAMILIES, SENIORS AND THE POOR

Locals are more concerned about the impact those price increases have on their wallet than who is to blame.

As Fortune Magazine reported yesterday:  The outlook for the U.S. economy has been a mostly bleak one: Inflation hitting a four-decade high, consumer spending weakening, interest rates surging. Most economists penciled in a recession for 2023. The news outlet goes on to report that Americans are beginning to feel pretty good about avoiding a recession.

Myrtle Beach area residents are simply trying to get from one month to another, however.

Horry County is considered a tourism based, low income paying job market.

Egg prices at $4.99 coupled with tourism related, low wage paying jobs, create a high misery index among the average family of four who live locally.

MISERY INDEX

The US misery index is defined as the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. In Myrtle Beach, the unemployment is seasonally adjusted; inflation is not.

The national misery index for all Americans in December 2022 was 9.54%.

With few tourism related jobs available in Horry County, the January local misery index could be as much as 2 times higher than that.

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