Cost of Living Dropped By The Most In 60 Years Last Month

The cost of living in the U.S. probably fell in October by the most in almost sixty years, while manufacturing and homebuilding sank deeper into a recession, economists said before reports this week.

Consumer prices probably dropped 0.8 percent last month, the most since 1949, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Builders broke ground on the fewest houses in at least a half century and factory output weakened further, other reports may show.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Vr6]

In many ways, if you have a healthy and well maintained populace you have a stable economy! Strange that!

[bwilder]

The cost of groceries has risen along with the cost of the oil/gas it takes to ship
them to market. So with fuel prices down significantly will the grocery prices decline too?????

[marymansour]

Hello? Really? Is that why two modest bags of groceries cost me over $100 dollars just yesterday?

[whatever1980]

I really don't see a differance at all. the only differance i see is that gas droped.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

For most of us, the prices that matter, like food, are up. Huffpost would not allow me to say what I would like to say, but it involves one finger.

[sykadelic chic]

?!? What costs of living dropped? Gas sure did, which is a blessing, don't think I'm not happy about that! ...but my rent, health insurance and food costs all rose! Food is still rising - _Wal-mart_ food prices are rising, as I learned this week. I had to even drop my health insurance, as I can't afford their increase!

I would sure like to know what the hell kind of definition these people are using for 'living', because as far as I'm concerned the _cost_ of just _living_ (survival) is getting ridiculous.

[Tom95134]

Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.2 percent last month after a 0.1 percent gain the prior month, according to the survey median. This is great news... unless you have to eat and keep warm.

While wholesale prices dropped, sales fell and this results in companies cutting back and firing people. It's called a "death spiral".

[Ranta]

I turn 62 in three weeks. My 401k is down 40%. Gas is two dollars a gallon. Big f ing deal.

[Overberg3959AC]

appply for SS........I did at 62 and get 1000 Euros a month...........my 3000 Euros european pension is much better although the 2 together allow me to live well.

[bmwracer]

To those thousands who have lost their jobs, this news doesn't mean very much.

[nomoredead]

I just came from Whole Foods and would have to disagree with the headline !

[proudem]

You mean "Whole Paycheck?" lol

[curiousasheck]

I can just see some fat cat who cleared $550,000 this year reading this piece thinking, "well why the hell is everyone complaining! The economy is better then ever!"

[bbridges1962]

Exactly...and that is the problem with the Bush-Hole Admin....the economy hasn't effected them at all, so America is in fine shape. America is much more civilized that I would have imagined, because noone has risen to revolt yet.

[TrooAmerican]

The cost of living actually went up if you consider it to consist of necessities like Food, Clothing, Shelter, utilities, and gasoline to get to work.
Gas is the only thing that went down for consumers.
Consumers being pinched by the cost of LIVING, dont give a rats a@@ about how much Surround sound systems, Flat screen tvs and computers cost, when they are having trouble finding money for gas an food.

From my personal calculations my cost of living since 2000 has skyrocketed by 300% as of August with gas over $4.00 gallon.
My numbers include increases in Car insurance, Homeowners insurance, Health insurance and copays, Property taxes, food, Electric, natural gas for heat, Water/Sewer/Trash, Gasoline, clothes, car and house maintenance.
each of those has been pushed up by the Fed's ridiculous money wasting. They cut state funding to our state. They cut municipal funding. The state has cut budgets numerous times and cut more local funding, Federal, State and local programs have been cut for DNR needs, parks, recreation, which affects tourism, etc.
Everything has a ripple effect and its been a disaster for poor and middle class income earners being hammered at every single facet of the economy.

[Jahmekyah]

You can't compare the cost of living in 200o to the cost of living in 2008 in nominal terms (i.e. with just the raw numbers). You have to compare it real terms, i.e with a dollar adjustment. You have to convert 2008 prices into 2000 prices, then compare the two. Of course your point may be proven nonetheless. But I'm just sayin, comparing cost of living 8 years apart isn't accurate without an adjustment for dollar appreciation

[tomas0808]

The banks are to blame for this. In the late sixties, they manipulated the insane increase in house prices so people would have to take bigger loans and they could make more interest sitting on their asses. If the price of the basic human needs had been tied together in 1967 that house that costs 400, 000 now would have been 120,000 and we wouldn't have this problem. Conversely, if the minimum wage had risen at the rate of housing it would be 65 bucks an hour. Think about that.

[dadw5boys]

Cost went up 40% and dropped 15% !

Cost is still 25% higher !

[PhilipTaylor]

Deflation means recession!

OIL was so over leveraged and dropped 61% since late June!

[nibblybits]

Exactly. Deflation is not exactly something to jump up and down about.

This is the proverbial dropping paper money from a helicopter scenario that Bernanke threatened to do. Fight deflation by printing money non-stop, and try to inflate our way out of debt.

This is scary times.

[twofish]

That's bad news to those living on Social Security, since the annual COLA increase is based on these rigged figures (cost of living excluding food and energy -- what are they INcluding, the price of Ferragamo shoes and Gucci purses?). Meanwhile, the size of the bite for Medicare from those SS checks continues to grow. So maybe next year, instead of the predicted large COLA increase, SS recipients will see an effective cut. Cause you can bet the rent on the idea that the Medicare increase will not be scaled back.

[Tallllama]

"Oct 16, 2008 ... The Social Security Administration announced today that Social Security payments will increase by 5.8% in 2009."

Don't think they can back down now. This is calculated on what already happened, so we get to finally 'catch up' a bit. This is the biggest increase in quite a while.

[JBS]

More mickeyed numbers from the bush administration.