Inflation in New England is about a third higher than the rest of the nation, with medical and housing costs continuing to rise significantly, according to the latest economic conditions report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
In September, year over year, the Consumer Price Index in New England was 3.4 percent, a full point higher than the United States, according to the report, released over the last several days.
Housing costs, referred to by the Boston Fed as “shelter inflation,” peaked in June at 8.4 percent, modifying by September to 6.6 percent. “Shelter inflation,” the report said, “has showed a steady deceleration nationwide.”
Medical costs rose 6.5 percent in New England in September, year over year, compared to 3.3 percent nationally.
Overall, the Boston Fed’s report measured several aspects of the economy, comparing New England to the rest of the nation, showing the region’s unemployment lower than elsewhere, and a labor market transitioning from “the recovery phase,” after the pandemic, “to a steadier state in which employment growth is comparable to the average rate for the three years before the pandemic.”
Here are some of the Boston Fed’s other findings:
- The unemployment rate in New England was 3.5 percent in August, compared to the nation’s 4.2 percent.
- Greatest employment growth in New England has been in educational and health services, other services, and government sectors, but “after a period of strong recovery, the construction, manufacturing, information, and professional and business services sectors experienced a deceleration in growth.”
- The Boston commercial vacancy rates continue to rise well above the national average. In Boston, the vacancy rates rose from 4 percent to 5.5 percent, year over year, compared to a national level of 2.2 percent in downtown areas and 1.6 percent in suburbia.
- Consumers in the region and nationally, in what the Boston Fed characterized as “the Presen Situation Index,” were less confident in the economy in September than a year earlier “despite otherwise robust labor market statistics,” the Boston Fed said.
- Consumer confidence was more optimistic about the economy’s short-term outlook, labeled Future Expectations.
