Gas, for instance, costs 12% less than it did a year ago. Car rentals and meat products also saw steep declines from a year ago. However, prices are still high for many goods and services. Here are some of the notable price hikes Americans are confronting: Margarine Costing almost 24% more than last year, margarine earned the top prize for the biggest annual increase last month. Vegetable oil, a crucial ingredient in margarine, is in tighter supply.
The cost of motor vehicle repairs is up 20% for the year. This comes as more Americans are pushing off buying new cars and driving older models that require more costly and time-consuming repairs, according to a recent report by CarMD, a digital car diagnostic system. The CarMD report found that the increase in repair costs isn’t coming from labor costs, which were down slightly last year.