BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — By now, many are aware of the cost of necessities is rising thanks to inflation.
The rate now sits at a more than 40-year high of 8.6% making home, food and gas prices spike.
Peter Zhu, an assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said the issue is global and that there are two main factors behind the rise.
The first is the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 worldwide.
"During the pandemic, people have to follow some strict rules to separate," said Zhu. "Production capacity had been reduced.
On top of that, the sanctions against Russia from the U.S and the European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led to more disruption in the global supply of oil.
"Many western countries are banning the import of the oil and the gas from Russia," Zhu said. "They have to buy those gas and oil from other production countries."
These global impacts are being felt here at home and locals say their families are feeling the punch.
"For the younger people, for my kids and grandkids it’s certainly made a difference," Kathie Bickerstaff said.
"[Our] kids that have to travel a bit. They really have to watch their budget on that," said Delbert Friesen.
Trying to be as economical as possible is their best advice for dealing with inflation.
"You gotta prioritize," said Cassandra Friesen. "I think we prioritize what we do and we try to tell our kids the same thing."
Zhu said the inflation rate is dependent upon many global factors and that it's difficult to predict an end to the current rise.
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