Consumer Prices Rising Faster Than Wages In Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Living expenses outpaced wages over the 12 months ending in June in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area, federal officials announced Wednesday.

Wages grew by 3 percent while living expenses jumped 3.2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Consumer prices were up an average of 1.6 percent nationwide and 2.7 percent in the West, defined as California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho,

Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 3.2 percent jump in consumer prices in the Bay Area was second highest in California trailing only the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area where prices were up 3.3 percent.

The cost for tuition, school fees and childcare in the Bay Area was up 10.3 percent between June 2018 and June 2019, outpacing the cost of all other consumer expenses.

Food prices rose by 5.1 percent, housing expenses were up by 2.8 percent, medical care costs increased by 5.4 percent and clothing prices jumped 7.5 percent in the same period.