The Primerica Household Budget Index, a monthly look at how inflation and wage trends affect middle-income families, held steady at 100% in June, down 0.1 point from May but up one point year over year, right at the juncture between positive and negative cost of living results.
Primerica, a provider of financial products and services to middle-income households, stated that purchasing power was relatively unchanged in June.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation for a comprehensive basket of goods for all U.S. households, came in at 2.7% in June, its highest reading since January. The CPI adjusted to narrow the impact of price rises to focus specifically on middle-income households and necessity items as used in the HBI metric, including food, utilities, gas, auto insurance and health care, increases inflation to an estimated 3.1%.
Primerica defines middle-income households as those earning from $30,000 to $130,000 annually.
