(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 10 things you need to know this Thursday – May 12, 2022

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Inflation Still Soaring at 8.3 Percent as Food, Housing, and Services Keep Getting More Expensive – Prices throughout the economy have increased by 8.3 percent over the past year and inflation continues chugging along at near 40-year highs despite some easing of prices for gas and other fuels.

Data released Wednesday morning by the Department of Labor show that annualized inflation fell from 8.5 percent in March to 8.3 percent in April, marking the first time in eight months that the country’s most important inflation indicator declined, even if only slightly. Prices rose by an average of 0.3 percent in April, down significantly from March’s 1.2 percent increase that drove annual inflation rates to a 40-year high. – READ MORE

Grocery Store Prices Up 10.8%, Most in Nearly 42 Years as Americans Face Higher Prices on Hamburger Meat, Baby Food, Chicken, Bacon, Soup, and Coffee – It got even more difficult in April for American families to put food on the kitchen table in January.

Food prices rose 9.4 compared with a year earlier, data from the Department of Labor showed on Wednesday. That is the fastest rate of inflation for food since 1981. Grocery store prices were up by even more, 10.8 percent. The broader Consumer Price Index rose by 8.3 percent. – READ MORE

368 Democrats and Republicans Vote to Give Ukraine $40 Billion in Aid During 40-Year High Inflation – Three-hundred-and-sixty-eight Republicans and Democrats voted on Tuesday night to grant Ukraine $40 billion in aid while Americans suffer from historic inflation.

The House voted late Tuesday night to pass H.R. 7691, the Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022. The legislation would provide $40 billion in emergency funding to “support the Ukrainian people and defend global democracy in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.” – READ MORE

Beware the housing bubble pop: Déjà vu all over again – Washington never learns. Never. Politicians are like collective Alzheimer’s disease patients. They have no short-term memories.

Does anyone remember 2008? It was only 14 years ago. Then, America suffered through one of the most significant and most painful financial crises in our nation’s history – and the worst losses since the crash of 1929. Millions of people lost their jobs. Hundreds of thousands defaulted on their mortgages and lost their homes. – READ MORE

Food Banks Fight To Keep Doors Open Amid Record Inflation, Demand – Food pantries are struggling to remain open as inflation drives increased demand for food distribution and raises operating costs, the Associated Press reported.

The record inflation seen in recent months has led massive numbers of people across the country to seek out food banks rather than brave sticker shock at the grocery store. Officials at multiple food distribution organizations told the AP they’ve been swamped by the demand for food. – READ MORE

US Consumer Debt Accelerates Towards $16 Trillion  – According to the Federal Reserve (Fed), U.S. consumer debt is approaching a record-breaking $16 trillion. Critically, as Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu details below, the rate of increase in consumer debt for the fourth quarter of 2021 was also the highest seen since 2007.

This graphic provides context into the consumer debt situation using data from the end of 2021. – READ MORE

Major Trucking Firms Prepare For “Imminent Diesel Shortage In Eastern Half Of US” – Major trucking fleets across the eastern half of the US are preparing for an “imminent” diesel shortage, according to logistics firm FreightWaves.

Founder and CEO of FreightWaves Craig Fuller said “3 very large fleets” are preparing for diesel pumps at fuel stations to run dry. Drivers of these fleets received notifications about fuel shortages that could materialize in the coming weeks across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. – READ MORE

Drug Overdose Deaths Rise Nearly 15% in Joe Biden’s First Year as President –Deaths from drug overdoses increased by 15 percent in President Joe Biden’s first year of office, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 107,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses in 2021, according to data — over 80,000 of which died from opioids. – READ MORE

18 Signs That Food Shortages Will Get A Lot Worse As We Head Into The Second Half Of 2022 – If you think that things are bad now, just wait until we get into the second half of this year. Global food supplies have already gotten very tight, but it is the food that won’t be produced during this current growing season in the northern hemisphere that will be the real problem. Worldwide fertilizer prices have doubled or tripled, the war in Ukraine has greatly reduced exports from one of the key breadbaskets of the world, a nightmarish bird flu pandemic is wiping out millions of chickens and turkeys, and bizarre weather patterns are absolutely hammering agricultural production all over the planet. I have often used the phrase “a perfect storm” to describe what we are facing, but even that phrase really doesn’t seem to do justice to the crisis that we will be dealing with in the months ahead. – READ MORE