Las Vegas resident Michael McCarthy used to visit casinos about five times a month, but now it’s down to once a month for one reason — inflation.
“The prices of everything have gone up and stayed high,” McCarthy, a retired stockbroker, said after purchasing groceries from Smith’s in Spring Valley.
The government reported this week that U.S. consumer prices in February rose 6 percent year-over-year, down from January’s 6.4 percent increase from 12 months earlier and the 40-year peak of 9.1 percent in June. Core prices, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, in February rose 5.5 percent from 12 months ago, down slightly from 5.6 percent in January. The Federal Reserve pays particular attention to the core measure as a gauge of underlying inflation pressures.
