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Progress in County
Despite Inflation
In Rappahannock County, as in most other sections of the country, the cost of living is considerably higher than it was a few years ago.
On the basis of the latest national figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average local family needed approximately $660 more in 1968 than in 1964 to buy the same “market basket” of goods and services.
That is the size of the increase for a family with a net income of $5,079, which was the local average in the past year.
Families in the $10,000-per-year category required an additional $1,300 to do the same amount of purchasing as four years ago, while those with incomes of $8,000 needed nearly $1,040 more. At the $4,000 level costs were about $520 higher.
All told, for the local community as a whole, the cost of inflation in the four-year period comes to no less than $924,000, it is estimated.
Every phase of the economy contributed its share to the rise in the cost of living, which totals 13 percent since 1964, according to the BLS. The cost of housing, food, transportation, medical care and other commodities and services have soared in the period.
Even before that, for a long time, prices had been creeping steadily higher. More recently, the rise has been at rates between l‘/2 and 2xh percent a year. During 1968, however, the jump has been considerably more than that - nearly 5 percent - the most since Korean War days.
Fortunately, for most residents of Rappahannock County, the increase in the cost of living has been more than offset by higher incomes. Thus, despite inflation, the average family has been able to absorb the rise and improve its scale of living as well.
According to Sales Management’s latest figures, average net income in the local area has climbed from $4,183 per household to $5,079 in the 1964 to 1968 period.
The increase, 21 percent, was considerably more than the loss of 13 percent sustained in the period through inflation.
Just how to halt this spiral will present the Nixon administration with a real problem.
THE VILLAGE SHOP Main Street Flint Hill
Last Call for Christmas
Shopping — Come See!
Tues. thru Sat. 10 a.m.* 6 p.m.
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89.6%