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A monthly explainer generated directly from Basket Index data. Republished by Basket Index, attributed to public BLS, FRED, and EIA sources.
As of Aug 2022 · Base 100 = Jan 2020
Generated from Aug 2022's observations.
As of August 2022, the Basket Index for a US family of 4 sits at 118.3 — meaning the cost of a standard household basket has risen 11.0% versus a year ago and is down 1.51% from the previous month.
Most of the move comes from gasoline (regular unleaded), electricity (residential), rent of primary residence and eggs (grade a, large). Together these items account for roughly 58% of the year-over-year basket cost change.
Inflation is rarely caused by one thing. Energy prices feed into food production and shipping; rent moves with housing supply and interest rates; and grocery prices respond to supply shocks, weather, and demand patterns. Basket Index does not claim causality — it tracks the prices households actually face, and lets you see which categories are pulling the basket up.
Year-over-year change for each item, ranked by contribution to the basket move.
Items down year-over-year, helping offset the rise.
| Month | Family of 4 · US |
|---|---|
| Jan 2020 | 100.00 |
| Feb 2020 | 99.64 |
| Mar 2020 | 98.95 |
| Apr 2020 | 97.58 |
| May 2020 | 98.01 |
| Jun 2020 | 99.55 |
| Jul 2020 | 99.87 |
| Aug 2020 | 99.88 |
| Sep 2020 | 99.91 |
| Oct 2020 | 99.82 |
| Nov 2020 | 99.84 |
| Dec 2020 | 100.33 |
| Jan 2021 | 101.03 |
| Feb 2021 | 101.97 |
| Mar 2021 | 103.56 |
| Apr 2021 | 104.00 |
| May 2021 | 104.82 |
| Jun 2021 | 105.62 |
| Jul 2021 | 106.15 |
| Aug 2021 | 106.64 |
| Sep 2021 | 107.21 |
| Oct 2021 | 108.12 |
| Nov 2021 | 109.02 |
| Dec 2021 | 108.91 |
| Jan 2022 | 109.69 |
| Feb 2022 | 111.21 |
| Mar 2022 | 115.12 |
| Apr 2022 | 115.38 |
| May 2022 | 117.72 |
| Jun 2022 | 120.96 |
| Jul 2022 | 120.15 |
| Aug 2022 | 118.34 |
A dated release covering one month. The period it describes is fixed, but the figures are recomputed from the source series — an official revision upstream can still move them.
Period covered: Aug 2022 · United States · family of 4 · Basket Index base 100 = January 2020
Permalink: https://basketindex.org/why-prices-rising/2022-08
Suggested citation: Basket Index™, “Why were prices rising in Aug 2022?” (Aug 2022), built from public data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve and the US Energy Information Administration. How this is calculated · Data status
67 dated snapshots, each recomputed as of the end of that month.
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