Honolulu 2007 inflation higher than national average
Advertiser Staff
Honolulu's inflation rate was 4.8 percent last year as prices continued to rise faster here than the national rate for metropolitan areas.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said high housing prices drove the increase here, along with higher energy prices. Grocery prices jumped by 6.1 percent, the highest increase since 1990.
The Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu metropolitan area compared with a 2.8 percent gain in the U.S. city average, and was the second highest rate in the past 10 years.
Last year's rate was the highest increase in 15 years at 5.9 percent. That was more than double the national rate of 2.6 percent in 2006.
The Bureau of Labor statistics said Honolulu's average consumer price index for all urban consumers measured at 219.5 in 2007. That means a market basket of goods and services that cost $100 in 1982-84 would have cost $219.50 in 2007.
The CPI is designed to be representative of goods and services purchased by consumers, with expenditures being placed into 200 categories. The bureau reported price gains included:
