For the first time in 27 years, the cost of living in the state of Alaska is at half a percent.
Alyssa Rodrigues, Economist with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development explains what the cost of living means…
Rodrigues: ” When we talk about the cost of living, we could be talking about the inflation rate and the inflation rate is really a measure on how much costs change from year to year.”
Transportation has a large effect on the lower energy prices for Alaskans and this decreased by nearly 7 percent. Since transportation is such a large part of our lives, this change has affected the overall inflation rate, which in turn effects the community.
Rodrigues: “So if you’re somebody who say spends a lot on healthcare, more than the average person, then maybe you actually saw your costs go up last year. And if you’re somebody who spends a lot on transportation then maybe you saw your costs go down more than other folks did. So it depends on how you personally spend your money as to how you’re going to experience inflation from one year to the next.”
Since Anchorage is the only place in the state to measure inflation and energy prices have been dropping, the Kenai Peninsula is also seeing similar changes with cheaper prices on gasoline, which dropped almost 25 percent since last year.
