LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Inflation has risen faster and lasted longer than the leaders of The Federal Reserve Expected, and, while the organization has moved toward fighting inflation beginning in March, consumers at small businesses like Aguilla Markets have been feeling the pinch of price increases for months.
"You used to buy like 50 items for 20 dollars, and now you're buying five items with 100 dollars," said cashier Francisco Duarte.
Duarte said caring for his family has gotten rough as inflation makes a trip to the register anywhere in the valley more and more painful.
"Say, you go to get milk with the whole groceries," he said, "but, at the end of the list, you can't afford your milk no more. It just brings it all down."
Duarte said his own store has seen hikes in the isles as their vendors bump prices as well.
He said it hasn't been fun for customers who largely walk to the corner store shopping for elderly relatives.
"It's obvious nobody can be expecting sending their loved ones to be buying their stuff and getting exact change," he said.
The Consumer Price Index spiked in January higher year over year than any time in the last 40 years.
Al Lord, founder and CEO of Lexerd Capital Management, said the Fed acted too slowly to address inflation concerns.
"Boom. It's here. It's higher than expected, and, guess what, it's not going away any time soon," he said.
Lord said people should expect the trend to continue, at least in the near future, as any Fed move would take time to affect prices.
He also said the fed will have to tread lightly to fight inflation because any move they make, like raising interest rates, could spook Wall Street investors.
"They have a really tough job now becayse if they move too quickly and in too large a size then, yeah, it may help inflation but they can crash the market here. They'll run the risk of throwing us into recession."
The latest expectation of the Federal Reserve was for it to move to raise interest rates to fight inflation beginning in March.
