Home Furnishings Prices Continue Four Year Decline : Medical, Drug, Education, and Childcare Prices
April 14,
2017 by Jane Chero in General 
This is the final factoid in a series of five factoids detailing the decline of prices among Furniture and Home Furnishings as well as many other major consumer items. The prices of consumer items grew steadily coming out of the recession for virtually all broad product categories until 2012 to 2014, when Durable Goods, including furniture, appliances, and electronics, along with Non Durables, and Commodities began to decline. The Services sector, led by skyrocketing medical costs, is the only broad group continuing to see large price increases. (See Interpreting the CPI in the first factoid of this series.)
By far the largest increases in prices come from the Medical Industry. Aside from Health Insurance which has fluctuated since 2010 with the introduction of Obamacare, all medical services and drug prices have maintained an upward trajectory. Hospital Care alone is up to 30.5 percent in 2010 to 2016. All other physician services, dental services, and prescription drug costs have grown between 16.5 percent and 22.8 percent. Even medical care for your pet is skyrocketing growing over 20 percent since 2010.
Education for all ages along with and childcare costs are close behind medical care in services that have sharply increased over the past six years. Up to an index of 126.1 in 2016, College Tuition and Fees have jumped an average of 4 percentage points per year. Consistently on an incline, childcare has increased 14.6 percent points from 2010 to 2016.
Source: Consumer Price Index, Bureau of Labor Statistics *2016 data through 3rd quarter