Here Are the Top 3 Travel Sectors Driving U.S. Inflation
Photo Credit: A 2017 view of San Francisco, California, including Coit Tower and Lombard Street. New inflation numbers in the U.S. show that the prices of rental cars, airplane tickets, and hotel stays are rising. Flickr / Bernard Spragg
Skift Take
The U.S. has powered through the pandemic on a blend of welfare Zoloft and equity market Red Bull. The mix has led to inflationary side effects. But travel companies are happy they're regaining some of their pricing power.
In the U.S., a hot job market, supply constraints, and a cautious rebound in domestic leisure and business travel have contributed to accelerating consumer price inflation this summer. Prices for airfares, car rentals, and hotel stays have been swinging upward, according to data released on Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Travel price inflation — or technically re-inflation after a pandemic depression — contributed to driving the national inflation rate to 5.4 percent in June, the highest monthly level in 13 years.
"Car rental is the only category seeing true inflation above and beyond 2019 price levels," said Seth Borko, Senior Research Analyst at Skift Research.
Car rental, indeed, was the travel segment most propelling the headline inflation numbers, with an 87 percent year-over-year change. But a more nuanced approach is to compare today's prices with their pre-pandemic levels, Borko said.
Comparing June 2
