Virginia Tech economic expert weighs in on inflation

Roanoke – A Virginia Tech economics expert says the consumer price index number was higher than what they expected, but still nothing to panic about.

One item that grew in price was “food away from home” such as fast food and takeout. It went up 6%.

“A lot of people might think you’d want no price changes whatsoever, but inflation, especially low levels of inflation are actually what helps motivate us to get wage increases as well. So, part of why we get salary increases or hourly increases each year is to adjust for that cost of living which is coming from inflation,” Jadrian Wooten, economics professor at Virginia Tech.

Wooten also said, although we all want items to be cheaper, there’s a give and take and cheaper items would mean wages would go down as well.