so despite the administration claiming that it saved christmas, inflation was going to be temporary, experts i talk to say it s going to get worse before it gets better. the average cost for truckers moving goods used to be 3 to $500 locally is now 700 to $1,000 in the past 3 to 4 months. we see these prices continuing until the market bears for them to be reduced. so just before omicron, some of the experts saw rays of sunshine. spot rates for shipping overseas began to level off. but, with the new variant they say it is spreading to the docks, to the warehouses, to trucking, factories in china and the u.s., and that means product shortages and higher prices likely will continue. this is wiping out labor forces and like a rolling sick leave, so that s what s really
chinese cities as well. the manufacturers i spoke with are worried that if these lockdowns become more widespread, we could see more product shortages from a very key manufacturing place leading to possibly some inflationary pressures on the u.s. economy as well. none of which sounds very good, steve liesman, so how do we get to the other side of this? obviously china is going to do what china is going to do in terms of imposing restrictions b but how much of this could be positively impacted by the moves that the biden administration takes? i think there s limited possibilities for the biden administration to solve this problem. look, what determines prices are the goods on the shelf, the goods back in the warehouse and the goodsed on the way from the manufacturer. all three of those things are challenged right now. so until we build up inventories in the warehouse or from the manufacturer we are going to have some trouble with prices. it s the reason why the fed has pivoted, the
it s all about covid. supply chain is a mess. there are product shortages. there are worker shortages and consumers are still shopping like crazy. let s bring in stu leonard, the ceo of the leonard s grocery chap. stu, how are you adapting? you know what, we ve never been working as hard at buying as we have right now. it s just a show out there just trying to get these products that we need. like even chicken wings coming up for the super bowl. you know, you don t know if the shipment s going to show up or not so you order extra and you keep your finger s crossed and hope that it will be delivered. how long do you think this is going to last? a year ago we were in the thick of some of these empty shelves and product shortages and delays. i just got some cream cheese this week so i m feeling confident. i don t know what s going to be the thing i m not going to get next week. you know what, christine. we re recommending three things.
coming up, particularly in the uk, energy bills going up substantially and also tax is set to rise as well in the spring and as you ve already been indicating, we have these product shortages in the supply chain which are also still pushing up prices.- chain which are also still pushing up prices. how is all of this filtering pushing up prices. how is all of this filtering through i pushing up prices. how is all of this filtering through into | of this filtering through into economic activity more generally? economic activity more generally? economic activity more tenerall ? , , generally? as well as the very fact we are generally? as well as the very fact we are seeing, generally? as well as the very fact we are seeing, at - generally? as well as the very fact we are seeing, at the i fact we are seeing, at the moment, a holding up of a retail sales, we are also seeing as far as sectors are concerned still a bounce back from the worst of the pandemic. and that is coming throug