What’s Working: Higher egg, gas prices raise Denver inflation in January but rate still lower than the U.S.
Why is that? Economists share some obvious and not so obvious reasons. Plus: King Soopers gets temporary restraining order against striking workers as union downplays impact
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Business/Technology Reporter
Sure, egg prices are still pretty high and the cost of a gallon of gasoline is inching up in Colorado, compared with a year ago. But have you been paying attention to apartment rents? Those are down in February in the Denver-area, according to ApartmentList.
The opposite direction in prices of common purchases showed up in the latest Consumer Price Index for the Denver area. While Denver’s annual inflation grew 0.2% in the past two months, annual inflation was 2.3% in January, and once again lower than the nation’s 3%. Denver spent the past year with lower inflation than the nation and in January, it was in a three-way tie with Tampa, Florida, and urban Alaska for the lowest metro area.
If you’re wondering how can that be, keep in mind that it’s more expensive to live in Denver than in many other cities. Wages are higher, housing costs are higher. Comparing inflation rates isn’t advised, said Julie Percival, a regional economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which releases the CPI report.
Some of the difference is just simple math, she said.
Percival likes to use the example of gasoline prices. If a gallon of gas is $1 in Texas but $2 in California and both increase by 5 cents, the rate of increase is different. Texas is up 5% and California up 2.5%, even though California is more expensive, she said.
In Denver, it’s the price of housing. On average, consumers in Denver spent $33,407 on housing last year. In the U.S., they spent $24,968, according to BLS data. So the annual change in shelter costs rose 0% in Denver in January, but in the U.S., shelter costs increased 4.4%, largely due to higher rents.
For consumers who own homes, the “owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence” rose 4.6% nationwide, and was up 1.9% in Denver. The increase for homeowners is what pushed the region higher in January, Percival added.
The region, at 2.3%, is closer to “the kind of inflation that most people like to see,” she said. Wages continue to rise, which wouldn’t be the case if there was zero inflation.
But what’s the reality?
Gary Horvath, an economist in Broomfield, said the BLS explanation makes sense. But, he added, “Given the shortage in housing in Denver and Colorado Springs, this may be a temporary reprieve. We’ll see.”
A consumer’s reality is in what’s not measured in annual CPI number: shrinkflation, fees, and the ups and downs of prices from month to month, he said.
His bank started charging him a $2 fee to send monthly statements by mail. In Broomfield, where he lives, the city approved a 50% increase in water utility rates last fall after not investing enough in past years. His family has invested in reusable bags because of the state’s single-use plastic bag fee law. He pointed to think-tank studies by the conservative Common Sense Institute and progressive Bell Policy Center that show how the state’s enterprise funds and fees can impact all Coloradans.
And shrinkflation certainly isn’t being measured, he said.
“While having smaller granola bars may be good for my waistline, smaller portions may mean some families will have to purchase more portions and pay more to maintain a healthy family,” Horvath said.
While CPI showed that the cost of Denver-area housing increased less than the nation, the reality is more apartments came online in the past year so there was more competition for renters and, as supply and demand goes, prevented prices from rising. There’s also been little home price appreciation since 2021 and buying a house has been difficult because of high interest rates. Those are the reasons why prices may appear flat.
But in January, CPI showed it became more expensive to eat out at restaurants, fill up a gas tank or buy a new or used car. Private transportation costs were up 9.2% from a year ago.
“For those who are feeling pain when they pull out their wallet or purse, the price of goods and services is actually more important than the (annual) increase in the CPI,” he said. “This has an impact on Coloradans with lower incomes or fixed wages. For this group, the increases are most elevated for food away from home, rent, shelter, and transportation.”
➔ Egg prices expected to increase 20.3% in 2025. According to a briefing by the USDA Economic Research Service last month, overall food prices are expected to increase at a similar rate to last year, or 2.2%. That’s split between a 1.3% increase in grocery prices for at-home dining and 3.6% increase when it comes to dining out. But eggs in particular, due to the avian flu wiping out whole egg-laying flocks, prices are predicted to rise 20.3% this year. In December, egg prices were 36.8% higher than a year earlier, according to the report. >> Read report
❤️ Roses are red, violets are blue. What does Colorado mean to you? Tell us what you love about Colorado. We’ll share some of our favorite reader responses. TELL US
Readers respond: Don’t cross the picket line
What’s Working readers felt strongly about the King Soopers strike. The survey received nearly 500 responses, a reader-poll record!
While the majority picked the “Never, ever cross a picket line,” the reasons weren’t always the same. I read through most of the comments and ended up pulling some of them out to do a first-ever reader opinion piece, which was published earlier this week.
I tried to contact everyone named in the story. If you missed it, here’s the piece: “Opinion: Readers take sides on the union worker strike at King Soopers. And there are more than two sides.”
And since the poll continued to attract votes, I’ve updated the results in the chart:
King Soopers labor update: Still chilly
Unless something changes by Saturday morning, the King Soopers labor strike appears no closer to getting resolved. On Wednesday, the company posted on its labor-strike page that various UFCW Local 7 claims aren’t true, and socked the union with a temporary restraining order (according to Denver7) to limit the number of workers picketing at its stores.
The union, which represents more than 10,000 workers on strike, called it “galling” and pointed out that the company’s filing “complains that workers who are picketing in subzero weather are using portable heating devices.”
A Denver District Court judge ruled Friday and both sides interpreted the decision in their favor. King Soopers said the judge granted it the temporary restraining order after “more than 300 instances of picketers making choices that compromise safety” of customers.
The union, likewise, responded saying the “overwhelming majority of King Soopers’ requests were denied” and workers will still “be heard at stores.” The planned two-week strike is expected to end Wednesday. But the union did acknowledge that the judge ordered picketers to not block delivery trucks, erect tents or canopies or “place piles of trash on sidewalks such that they impeded either traffic or pedestrian access to the store.”
Three years ago when King Soopers workers went on strike, they planned to go on strike for three weeks. The strike lasted nine days after the two sides reached a tentative deal. The current strike enters day 10 today.
➔ Related: The King Soopers strike could cost Colorado Girl Scouts hundreds of thousands of dollars in cookie sales >> Read
Take the reader poll: What’s your job?
Federal employees, King Soopers workers and restaurant workers who work in the kitchen or up front for tips. All these jobs have been in the news this month. Is that you or do you know someone whose story needs to be told?
Help us report on what’s happening in Colorado by taking and sharing the latest What’s Working reader poll. >> cosun.co/WWjobs2025
Sun economy stories you may have missed
➔ Colorado wants to force insurance companies to help homeowners understand, mitigate wildfire risk. House Bill 1182 would also require insurers to give customers an opportunity to appeal assessments of a property’s wildfire risk, which can lead to increased costs and nonrenewals >> Read story
➔ Crested Butte Mountain lift mechanics reach deal with Vail Resorts to avoid strike. The lift mechanics get an average of a $6 hourly raise after threatening to strike last month following a year of contract negotiations >> Read story
➔ Bipartisan bill would let Colorado counties triple lodging taxes to pay for more than affordable housing. House Bill 1247 would allow voters to increase lodging taxes and use the revenue for infrastructure, law enforcement and conservation >> Read story
➔ Denver, Boulder restaurants could pay tipped workers less when their gratuities exceed minimum wage under proposed law. Restaurant owners say that changing the tip credit will go further to ease inflationary costs and help them survive >> Read story
➔ The feds promised Colorado $339 million for health insurance. The money hasn’t arrived yet. Colorado uses the money on various programs that make health insurance more affordable >> Read story
➔ Colorado budget crisis imperils state worker raises, threatening to break union contract. If the Joint Budget Committee — and the rest of the state legislature — doesn’t fund the raises, it would force the union back to the bargaining table >> Read story
Other working bits
➔ State awards grants to help communities transition from coal. The city of Craig was awarded a $1,051,000 grant to develop a new business and industrial park as part of the state’s Office of Just Transition, which exists to support communities navigate coal mine and power plant closures. The new business park, which also received a $2.5 million award from Congress to cover infrastructure costs, will be located next to the Union Pacific rail line to best attract companies to town that need workers. Separately, the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District was awarded $100,000 to study the potential impact of the Wolf Creek Reservoir on agricultural production and the local water supply. >> More
➔ More than 100 Denver hamburger bun workers are unionizing. Workers at the Bimbo QSR Bakery in Denver plan to vote Thursday to form a union, according to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 26. In 2023, Mexico-based Bimbo acquired Mile Hi Bakery, which supplied hamburger buns to McDonald’s. Employees are seeking fair wages and a workplace “where everyone is treated fairly and equally,” Local 26 officials said in a news release.
Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww
Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. Stay warm and keep me posted on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara
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