The agency’s bimonthly report, based on metrics for western Riverside County and the cities of Ontario and San Bernardino, indicated that the Inland Empire’s Consumer Price Index was up exactly 1 percent.

BLS officials said Wednesday the principal driver behind the increase was retail gasoline prices, which jumped 11.6 percent between the beginning of April and the end of May. That in turn pushed the energy component of the CPI up 8.6 percent for the entire two-month period.

Prices went stratospheric as a result of the Mideast war.

Other contributors to the index’s upward trajectory were food prices and apparel costs, which advanced 1.5 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Conversely, shelter costs — or property rents — trended marginally downward throughout the region in April and May, slipping 0.1 percent, and costs in the household furnishings category fell by 2.3 percent, according to the BLS.

Nationwide, the overall CPI registered a .5 percent increase for the month of May. The impetus, again, was energy costs. For the one-year period ending May 31, the national CPI was 4.2 percent.

In the Inland Empire, the year-over-year CPI was 3.4 percent, measuring a host of economic inputs from May 2025 to May 2026, data showed.

The most notable upward pressures in the annualized CPI were reflected in the energy and healthcare components of the regional index, moving up 20.9 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

The current rate of inflation reflects the price trajectory impacting most sectors of the economy.

Energy price shocks that began at the end of February are directly connected to commodities markets and oil trading, which turned bullish immediately after the joint Israel-U.S. military operations against Iran, beginning with a missile attack on a girls’ school, where almost 200 Iranians were killed. The nation’s supreme leader and multiple members of his family were also assassinated. Hostilities abated amid peace overtures in April and May but have recently resumed with intensity.

Iran declared a quasi closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where tankers carrying nearly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies must pass. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has characterized the narrow Persian Gulf sea lane as a “chokepoint.”

Accelerating consumer price hikes have also been blamed on loose monetary policy and excessive federal spending, decaying the dollar’s purchasing power.

The national debt is now $39.2 trillion, according to the congressional Joint Economic Committee’s “Debt Dashboard.” Some projections indicate the debt load will almost double in 10 years or less.

Fortune magazine reported in April that federal payments just to cover interest on the debt total $88 billion a month.

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The agency’s bimonthly report, based on metrics for northwestern Riverside County, as well as the cities of Ontario and San Bernardino, indicated that the Inland Empire’s Consumer Price Index was up .2%.

BLS officials said health care and shelter costs, or property rents, were among the main drivers of price hikes in the months of June and July. The health expenses component of the index jumped 5.4%, while the shelter burden climbed an estimated .8%.

Over the same two-month period, however, energy prices dropped, with gasoline costs declining 5.5%, despite the oil market jitters set off by Israel’s attack on Iran and the latter’s counter-strikes. The pocketbook squeeze for groceries also eased marginally in June and July, decreasing overall by .1%, according to the BLS.

The year-over-year picture contrasted with bimonthly inflationary trends. From July 2024 to July 2025, the regional CPI showed a 3.5% rise, accounting for a range of upward pressures, led by food and shelter costs.

The food index was up 3.5% over the 12-month period, while the shelter component was up 3.4%, data showed.

Trending lower year-to-year were energy costs, dropping an aggregate 1.8%, along with costs for education and communication services, which together declined by 2.8%, according to the government.

The report showed inflation was also up .2% nationwide for July, and 2.7% on an annualized basis.

The current rate of inflation reflects the price trajectory impacting most sectors of the economy.

Accelerating consumer price hikes have been blamed variously on the war in Ukraine, loose monetary policy and excessive federal spending, applying downward pressure on the dollar.

The national debt is $36.9 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Estimated annualized interest rate payments on the country’s debt passed the $1 trillion mark in November 2023, according to Bloomberg News. That same month, Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.S. credit rating from “stable” to “negative.” However, last May, the service changed the rating again to stable.

The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee increased its benchmark, or target, lending rate in spring 2022 to soak up excess liquidity, though the FOMC stopped hikes in fall 2023 and last year initiated gradual cuts, bringing the rate down to roughly 4.5% on the belief that inflation had been tamed.

The committee decided to leave rates unchanged in July, citing uncertainties. However, many Wall Street analysts are now betting rate cuts will begin anew this fall.

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