CINCINNATI — Stocks plummeted Wednesday as a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics surprised investors with higher-than-expected inflation numbers.
Gas prices and rent costs were the predominant drivers of the 3.5% inflation mark, according to NKU Haile College of Business economist Janet Harrah.
The consistent price rise has been a burden for many, including 70-year-old Cincinnatian John Lambert who has returned to part-time work and odd jobs to make ends meet.
"Everything is going up and up and up," he said leaving Kroger On the Rhine.
Lambert said he doesn't expect retirement in his future.
"I keep moving. I don't stop till it's time to go home," he said.
Harrah said the Federal Reserve's efforts to raise interest rates to control inflation haven't failed necessarily as they must avoid increasing them too high resulting in a recession.
"It's a balancing act," Harrah said.
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Her advice for those with enough budget flexibility was to take advantage of the market as it sits.
"If you're saving money? Go get a six-month CDU at 5.5% and lock it in. If you're borrowing? Try to borrow as little as possible, and, if you're a debtor, try to pay it off as soon as you can," she said.
Lambert said he doesn't have many options other than scraping by until prices level off.
"I expect them to just keep going up, up, up until nobody can afford them anymore," he said.
The Federal Reserve is set to meet at the end of April to consider raising, lowering or keeping interest rates the same.
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