Atlanta seeing 2nd highest inflation rate in the country

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Inflation is now hitting Atlanta harder than almost any other city in America. The city’s rate tops 10%, and that’s above the national average of 8%. Only Phoenix, Arizona, has a higher inflation rate.

“I saw food was going up, basically $50 worth of groceries was not the same,” said Jillian Anderson, business owner of HeRide.

For Anderson, it’s scary to think the cost of living will keep going up, pushing her to adjust plans.

“It’s crazy. I’ve actually had to think about cancelling about my 30th birthday this year because of price increase,” said Anderson.

Gas, housing prices, groceries, and eating out. It’s all costing more.

“But people’s jobs, people’s difference places of businesses, they’re not experiencing any increase in profits or stuff like that. It’s becoming straining,” said Anderson.

The Bureau of Labor statistics says Atlanta’s inflation is at 10.8% – higher than New York, LA, and Chicago.

One cause is that more and more people are moving to Georgia, which means the city’s supply on goods is low while the demand continues to grow.

“A lot of people moving to Atlanta are bidding up the prices of housing and that creates an inflationary pressure,” said Tibor Besedes , professor at Georgia Tech School of Economics

The global supply chain issues are also making matters worse, and it’s unlikely any cities or states can do much to prevent further damage or loss.

“These are systemic issues. A lot of driving - can’t really reduce that quickly, and a lot of people can’t do that quickly. It’s difficult to require more fuel-efficient cars. You can’t increase public transportation overnight, so it’s really difficult,” Besedes said.

So it’s in the hands of the federal government. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said recently on the marketplace radio program, “The process of getting inflation down to 2% will also include some pain, but ultimately, the most painful thing would be if we were to fail to deal with it.”