Prices are rising for many Americans, with 65% of consumers saying the increases are outpacing their income, according to a J.D. Power survey of 4,000 U.S. adults conducted in February 2026.
Recent inflation data adds to that pressure, with the annual rate rising from 2.4% in February to 3.3% in March, according to consumer price index data released Friday. The increase was driven largely by a surge in energy costs as gasoline prices spiked amid the Iran war. Gasoline prices rose 21.2% in March, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the overall increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In a somewhat related prime number incident, we have the term “baker’s dozen”, meaning 13. This is because bakers were found to be reducing the size of loaves of bread, and the government required that they include 13 when they sold 12 to make up for the discrepancy. So shrinkflation has been going on basically forever…