Grand Canyon Times

The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that inflation rose in February, largely due to escalating gas prices. Recent polling suggests that a significant portion of Arizona's electorate attributes the surge in gas prices to President Biden's economic policies.

According to the BLS' most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the overall CPI escalated by 3.2 percent from February 2023 to February 2024. The BLS states that the increase in the gasoline index, along with the shelter index increase, "contributed over sixty percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items."

The BLS further reveals that after having decreased for four consecutive months, the gasoline index saw an upswing of 3.8 percent from January to February 2024.

In relation to specific regions, the BLS reports that in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area, there was a 2.2 percent rise in overall CPI from February 2023 to February 2024. In the two-month period ending in February 2024, this region experienced a CPI growth of 0.7 percent while its gasoline index increased by 1.5 percent during this period. Between January and February 2024 alone, this area saw a surge of 4.7 percent in its gasoline index.

A poll conducted by North Star Opinion Research and commissioned by League of American Workers (LAW), an organization dedicated to examining economic public policies affecting American workers, found a majority consensus among likely voters in Arizona regarding these rising gas prices. The November 2023 LAW poll discovered that a majority —56 percent—of respondents held President Joe Biden's policies accountable for higher gas prices.