Coping Strategies — Rising Cost Of Commodities

The Facts
Since 2000, the consumer price index (CPI)—or inflation rate—is up about 18 percent, or about 3 percent per year. During that same period, commodities prices were up by 29 percent, or about 5 percent per year. Even the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, is up about 18 percent, indicating that many of these higher commodities prices are not being fully passed along to final buyers.