SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — With inflation at levels not seen in 40 years, San Diegans are being forced to make difficult decisions in order to stay afloat.
Pat Arter racked up a more than $70 dollar grocery bill at Point Loma's Jensen's Foods on Wednesday. A recent life choice helped pay for the essentials.
"We retired recently," Arter said. "We had a plan for retirement. It's all changed with the inflation, obviously, so I went back to work."
The Labor Department reported Wednesday annual inflation at 8.3 percent in April, a rate once again at levels not seen in 40 years.
While that's a tick down from the 8.5 percent reported in March, it's of little consolation to San Diegans who are paying $5.85 for a regular gallon of gas, plus some of the highest electricity rates in the country — and, like food, they have to buy it.
Adam Zack, owner of Jensen's Foods Point Loma, said he's seen prices rise on everything from Julian Pies to milk to eggs. In all, prices at his store are up about 7.5 percent year-over-year, due to things like rising wages, supply crunches, and fuel surcharges.
"It actually means less profits for us because we just can't reflect everything that we're seeing," Zack said.
His hope is that inflation returns to normal levels — around 2 percent. Zack says that way, his staff will no longer have to change prices for items upwards of 80 times a week. He noted prices for poultry and pasta have not risen as much as other items.
