Ever since the stimulus check payments have been stopped by the federal government, citizens have been struggling with rampant inflation. And unfortunately, according to the latest data out there, the high prices are here to stay. In February, the CPI or the Consumer Price Index- which is used to measure the fluctuations in the price of consumer products- went up by 8% on an annual basis. This does represent the index’s largest annual jump in around 40 years. And interestingly, shelter, higher grocery, and gas costs have all been contributing to the higher number in February.
Stimulus Check Might See A Return In The Face Of Inflation
As far as gas costs go, tensions overseas aren’t exactly fixing matters in that regard. Just this week, the average price of a gallon of gas went to $4.17- which does mark an increase of $0.50 from the previous week. And in the absence of stimulus check payments, experts have warned that the price of gas could increase to as far as $4.50 a gallon by the month of May.
All of this has naturally led to consumers wondering if the legislators in Congress will be doing something or providing some form of aid to those who have been struggling hard with the stimulus check payments nowhere in sight. The previous year had seen Americans privy to a pretty hefty stimulus payment along with the monthly Child Tax Credit payments. But is there a possibility of such a payment coming again in 2022?
The third stimulus check payment came in during the American Rescue Plan which was signed into law in March of 2021. At that point, the US economy was still in pretty dire shape with unemployment still rampant. A year later, the economic picture seems to be pretty positive- despite the rise in inflation.
