Consumer Prices See Biggest Jump In Over A Decade

New statistics show consumer prices up more than 5% in the last year, which is the biggest jump in over a decade.

A big part of that is more demand for used cars and gasoline.

“It has all been affected tremendously,” said Used Car City Lot Manager Jason Carrico.

Carrico said prices are up for several reasons.

He said new cars weren't built during the pandemic, there’s a shortage of necessary computer chips for cars, and industries like rental car companies had to start buying used cars. Plus, with stimulus checks and unemployment benefits, more people were buying cars, too, he said.

“The reality of it is, is that a year and a half ago, you could have gotten almost anything for probably $2,000 less,” Carrico said.

He said they sold around 30 cars total last year and around 80 since the start of this year.

The latest federal report shows inflation rose more than 10 percent just last month for used cars and trucks, the business's largest spike to date.

Just like it costs more to buy a car, it also costs more to fill up your tank. In Oklahoma, AAA said it costs about a dollar a gallon more than last year.

It’s a price hike that drivers like Summer Fern have noticed.

"I was pretty shocked. Usually, it goes down within a few weeks, but it's just kept going up and so it's crazy,” Fern said.

AAA Spokesperson Mark Madeja said it's due to demand. More people are driving instead of flying for trips and many are going back to work. Plus, crude oil costs are going up.

"This is a perfect storm for higher gas prices,” Madeja said.

But he said it's also something positive with Oklahoma's oil and gas industry.

“With crude at these levels, the back end of that means more tax money coming into the state,” Madeja said.

Madeja said there's no shortage of supply.

“We have all the gas here, fortunately, that we're going to need,” Madeja said.

Statistics show used cars and gas had the year's highest inflation rates with both industries going up more than 45%.