Car insurance rates haven’t surged this much in nearly 50 years

A lot has changed in the time since Gerald Ford was president and Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple. But here’s something that hasn’t changed much: the pace at which car insurance rates are rising.

A lot has changed in the time since Gerald Ford was president and Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple. But here’s something that hasn’t changed much: the pace at which car insurance rates are rising. Car insurance rates are up almost 21% for the 12 months ended in February, according to new Consumer Price Index data released Tuesday. The last time car insurance rates rose that much on an annual basis was 1976, not counting January, which saw the same annual rate increases. The rise in car insurance rates alone contributed half a percentage point to the overall 3.2% inflation rate last month. It represents one of many obstacles standing in the way of the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation goal and continues to be a pain point for Americans struggling with some of the highest prices in decades. A confluence of factors is behind the trend. The cost to repair a car is up 6.7% for the year, according to CPI data. That’s a much slower rate compared to recent years. But it’s still much more expensive compared to before the pandemic, said Tim Zawacki, principal research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Contributing to the rising cost of repairing a car are more expensive auto parts and wage increases for car mechanics due to labor shortages, Zawacki told CNN.