Briefing
Do Black Households Face Higher and More Volatile Inflation?
Lee, Munseob (2022-07)
Inflation affects different households in different ways. I use detailed data on spending in retail outlets by Black and White households in the U.S. and study the racial inflation disparity. I find that Black households experienced slightly higher and significantly more volatile inflation in consumer goods from 2004 to 2020 compared to White households. More than two-thirds of the difference in inflation volatility can be explained by the fact that Black households are disproportionately more likely to consume goods with volatile prices.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 22 , Issue 25