Walmart CEO: Inflation Will Be ‘With Us Basically Forever’ At ‘Some Level’
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon predicted on Tuesday that wage inflation will be “with us basically forever” and detailed how higher price levels are impacting the grocery giant.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.5% year-over-year as of July, according to a report released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In an interview with CNBC anchor Courtney Reagan, McMillon explained that Walmart is gaining more consumers as wealthier families struggle to contend with inflation.
“It’s a conflicting period in terms of the data. If you look at what’s happening across categories and across income levels, inflation is having an impact particularly for those who don’t have as much money,” McMillon said. “So we see them behaving in different ways … Higher income families are shopping at Walmart because they’re so price sensitive right now. We shared earlier this morning that families making more than $100,000 in household income have driven a lot of our growth during this last quarter.”
Although year-over-year inflation saw a modest decline from 9.1% to 8.5% as gas prices fell between June and July, food prices continued to accelerate. Food at home — a category that includes groceries — rose 1.3% month-over-month and 13.1% year-over-year.- READ MORE
Responses