By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Numbers released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services continue to remain consistent month over month.
Numbers in June showed Fulton County at an unemployment rate of 3.3% with Williams County slightly lower at just 3.2%.
July numbers show that nothing has changed for Fulton County, with the number remaining at a steady 3.3%. Williams County however did show a slight decrease of 0.1% with an end result leaving Williams County at 3.1%.
This decrease continued at both the State and National level, with Ohio going from 3.4% in June to 3.3% in July. The United States as a whole also decreased slightly from 3.6% in June to 3.5% in July.
In addition to unemployment, the Consumer Price Index’s report on inflation was released on September 13th. This report showed an increase in the unadjusted 12-month percentage at a rate of 3.7%.
This number has increased from just 3.2% in July. Additionally, the report showed an increase year over year of 4.3% for food, 3.1% for apparel, 4.5% for medical commodities, 7.3% for shelter, 10.3% for transportation services, 2.9% for new vehicles, and 2.1% for electricity.
The report showed a decrease year over year for energy at -3.6%, -6.6% for used cars and trucks, and -2.1% for medical care services.
While these previously stated numbers show the unadjusted 12-month percentage, some of these numbers have seen a drastic change when looking month over month.
Gasoline costs year over year were set at -12.5% in the month of July but saw an increase of 10.6% bringing the number to just -3.6%. Inflation as a whole for the past 12 months sat at 3.2% in July but increased to 3.7% in August.
These increases from July to August come as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released a new study that shows Americans may run out of excess savings by the end of this year’s third quarter.
The report explains that many Americans were still in possession of excess savings from the pandemic to the tune of $500 billion, of the $2.1 trillion that had been accumulated. This amount was still in the pockets of some Americans as of March 2023 according to the report.
The number had decreased to just $190 billion in June of 2023 with the report going on to say, “There is considerable uncertainty in the outlook, but we estimate that these excess savings are likely to be depleted during the third quarter of 2023.”
The report further finds that household disposable income was lower while personal consumption was higher than previously reported in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
Either way, with so much uncertainty still in play, it is hard to tell whether or not this prediction will come into play.
One thing is for certain though, with inflation continuing to climb higher, many Americans will continue to face higher costs and dwindling savings.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com