The U.S. is close to the beginning of an era of inflation due to an increase in consumer prices and political tensions. The 2022 U.S. inflation rate is estimated to be about 4%, predicted to peak around may and could result in a further increase in interest rates by the federal reserve. There are various reasons for the rise in inflation, with many of the elements happening far from Frisco.

“So, in our current situation, it’s caused by supply chain issues, and the fact that the cost of goods and raw materials have gone up, so, therefore, the price overall of most things have gone up,” U.S. history teacher Emily Griffin said. “There’s also, there’s a higher demand for certain things, like in the housing market currently.”

Prices for rent and consumer goods have increased the most, by 7.7% and 6.7% respectively, which is expected to have the biggest impact on urban and suburban areas. In addition, household spending is predicted to rise by 7.7%, according to CNBC.

“Other than the gas pump, where I’ve noticed inflation was when I used to have a 20-dollar budget for birthday presents for my kids going to birthday parties,” teacher Sarah Wiseman said. “So we went to go buy a 20-dollar box of Legos, and what once was a 20-dollar box of Legos this summer is now a 25-dollar box of Legos, and well, I guess I have to change my budget for birthday parties. That’s the one I really noticed.”

This inflation has heavily impacted many on campus, especially in the housing market.

“So right now, I’m actually trying to buy a house, and house prices have gone up a lot, interest rates were down pretty low in response,” Griffin said.”But now what we’re seeing is they’re raising interest rates but the housing prices are still staying pretty high”

Even more, concerning as far as the economy goes is the 11.1% rate of possible unemployment, and the current unemployment rate of 3.6%.

“There’s a healthy level of unemployment but once you go past that, for the entire country, it’s negative,” Griffin said. “But in urban areas in particular, when you combine unemployment with inflation, where everything’s more expensive: rent, goods that you need, it’s pretty much a recipe for disaster.”