The price of just about everything from eggs to fuel oil has risen in 2022.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that the consumer price index for “all items” increased by 9.15%.

The jump, measured between June 2021 and June 2022, was the largest 12-month increase since November 1981.

The inflation is causing more people to seek help.

According to the bureau’s data, energy prices rose 41.6% from June 2021 to June of this year, making it the largest 12-month increase since April 1980.

Home heating oil is up 65.7% from November 2021. In Pennsylvania, a gallon of fuel oil now costs an average of $4.34, up from $3.17 per gallon a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gasoline prices rose this year as well, reaching an average of $5.07 per gallon in June, according to the American Automobile Association. The prices are decreasing, however, with the association reporting that the current average cost of gas in Pennsylvania is $3.59 per gallon - close to what it was at this time in 2021.

Food increased by 10.4%, the steepest jump since February 1981. Some of the most noticeable increases were in eggs, 49%: lettuce, 19.8%; cereals and bakery items, 16.4%; pet food, 15.7%, and milk, 14.7%.

The skyrocketing inflation has been contributed to the aftershocks from the COVID-19 pandemic; factory closures, a labor shortage, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused a spike in oil prices that increased costs for shipping and manufacturing.

Applications to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are on the rise, according to an official with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which administers the program.

Through it, low income families receive assistance for their home heating bills.

Department spokesman Brandon Cwalina said that more than 334,000 applications have been received so far this year.

“Last year as of this date, (the department) received 303,266 LIHEAP applications - an increase of 30,817,” he said. The application season opened earlier this year, which accounts for some of the increase, but “overall there has been an increase in applications,” he added.

“We have seen a huge increase in general in need and requests,” said Rebecca Netznik, regional manager for the Salvation Army Schuylkill Service Center. “With the colder weather we are getting more requests for oil. A lot of families are also calling us for rental assistance more than ever before.”

The Army also saw record numbers of requests for toys. In 2021, it provided toys to 700 area children - the highest number at that time. In 2022, more than 1,000 applications were received.