Inflation has rocked the United States over the past year, with Miami being hit hardest as the Federal Reserve struggles desperately to contain the rising cost of living.
Miami, Phoenix, Seattle, Atlanta and Philadelphia ended 2022 with the highest annual increases in inflation.
Higher energy and housing costs have been cited as key drivers of inflation, including in Florida, which may fall victim to its own success as the state is home to four of the top 10 most urban movers in 2022.
Federal data recorded Phoenix’s rent increase at 21.9 percent and Miami’s at 18.6 percent after the city experienced the highest population growth of any city since the pandemic began.
Miami was one of four Florida cities to make the top ten cities with populations over 150,000, with a 55.2 percent move-in rate
Inflation has hit the United States hard over the past year, with Miami being hit hardest as consumers continue to be overpriced
Rounding out the top ten were New York/Newark, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago.
Los Angeles and San Francisco had some of the lowest inflation rates, possibly due to a slowdown in immigration to those areas.
The news comes after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a quarter of a point, signaling that inflation, while slowing, remains high enough to warrant further hikes.
The hike announced on Wednesday brought the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate to between 4.50 percent and 4.75 percent, the highest since November 2007, when interest rates were cut at the beginning of the financial crisis.
Although this hike was smaller than the previous rate hike — and even larger rate hikes before it — the Fed’s latest move will further increase the cost of many consumer and corporate borrowing and could increase the risk of a recession.
In a policy statement, the Fed continued to promise “ongoing increases” in the cost of borrowing, a signal that policymakers intend to raise interest rates again at their next meeting in March and perhaps May.
Still, major stock indexes, which had spent the day in the red, surged into positive territory as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke after the decision, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.59 percent late in the session.
Miami’s inflation rate is 18.6 percent after the city experienced the highest population growth of any city since the pandemic began
Seattle ended 2022 with the second-highest increase in annual inflation
The US Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, slowing from the rapid hikes implemented last year
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “the job is not entirely done” to bring inflation down, noting that policymakers are “very determined to bring inflation back to our 2% target “.
“We need a lot more evidence to be sure that inflation is on a long, sustained downward path,” Powell said.
“It would be very premature to declare victory or to believe that we really did it,” Powell added. “We have to finish the job.”
Fed policymakers are hoping to avoid triggering a recession and economic data has generally been moving in the right direction since their last monetary policy meeting in December.
Although inflation remains painfully high, it is slowing under the influence of higher interest rates, while the economy continues to grow at a reasonable pace and create jobs.
“The Fed isn’t done fighting inflation,” said John Leer, chief economist at decision intelligence firm Morning Consult. “Anyone who thought the Fed had won the war on inflation is in for a protracted battle.”
Though the job market remains tight, Leer said it is “premature to conclude that American workers will emerge unscathed from this cycle of migration” as the full impact of higher interest rates on the job market has yet to be felt.
The Fed is trying to tame inflation by curbing the economy with higher interest rates, but is hoping to avoid triggering a recession.
For consumers, the rate hike is likely to mean higher interest payments on credit cards and adjustable-rate loans.
However, mortgage rates remain near 6 percent after peaking above 7 percent in October, and experts expect them to remain relatively stable or fall further.
In general, mortgage rates are tracking 10-year Treasury bond yields, which have fallen sharply over the past month on signs of easing inflation.
The Fed is trying to walk a tightrope by raising rates enough to fight inflation without plunging the economy into a full-blown recession.
Many economists and business leaders are expecting a recession sometime in 2023, although there have been recent signs that the economy remains stronger than expected.