There’s a divide in the US economy between the haves and the have-nots. And accelerating inflation, driven in part by tariffs, could make it worse.

Government data points to the early stages of businesses passing on the costs of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping import tariffs to consumers.

Still, inflation remains well below its peak, and a debate continues over the extent to which tariffs will lead to a sustained rise in the pace of price hikes.

But Americans like Yanique Clarke are feeling the pinch.

Yanique, a nursing student in Manhattan who identifies as lower-income, said while shopping for groceries at a Target store this week that “prices are really drastically high” for meat, vegetables and fruit.

“It’s quite a while now, but it’s getting higher,” she said.

And it’s not just groceries. When she was recently back-to-school shopping for her 13-year-old daughter, Yanique found those prices to be “very much higher compared to previous years”.

What Yanique sees in the grocery and clothing aisles aligns with data from the Labor Department, released on Thursday. In August, prices for several tariff-exposed products ticked up: clothing prices, for instance, rose 0.5% from the previous month.

Grocery prices also increased 0.6% in the month to August, with particularly strong gains for coffee, a product that is sensitive to tariffs.

Economists noted that the growth in food prices, which tend to be volatile, might also be driven by the Trump administration’s immigration policies, as mass deportations suppress the workforce in the food and agriculture sectors and boost labour costs.

But how Americans experience the rising prices for everyday goods is far from uniform.

“Lower-income households are almost tailor-made to be exposed to tariffs,” said Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab. Mr Tedeschi was previously an economist in the Biden administration.

Those with less disposable income tend to spend more of their budget on imports, Mr Tedeschi said. Moreover, the type of imports that have disproportionately borne the burden of tariffs so far this year, such as imports from China, tend to be lower-priced goods, he added.

A report from the Yale Budget Lab released earlier this month found that, as of June, core goods prices were 1.9% above pre-2025 trends, suggesting that tariffs are raising prices for window coverings, appliances and electronics, among other basic products.

Corporate executives are taking note of the consumer divide. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski warned earlier this month that higher-income Americans are still able to spend freely while everyone else falters. It is part of why the chain is expanding its value menu, to entice price-conscious customers.

“Particularly, with middle and lower-income consumers, they’re feeling under a lot of pressure right now,” Mr Kempczinski said.

“It’s really kind of a two-tier economy,” he added.

Back at the Manhattan Target store, Nancy Garcia glanced at price tags in the clothing section.

“Now I’m doing more price comparison,” she said. “I’m comparing, is this on sale at the supermarket?

“But even the supermarket has gotten really expensive.”

Nancy, who works in the publishing and gifts industry, said she considers herself to be middle-income. Through her work, she has heard small retailers raise concerns about tariffs affecting their bottom line.

But she said it is unclear whether the supermarkets and chains where she tends to shop are raising prices because of tariffs, or if “people are taking advantage”.

Sylvia Sealy, who lives in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, was looking at the clothing racks at a discount department store in Manhattan this week, lamenting what she viewed as skyrocketing prices for everything from groceries and clothes to building materials.

“Since tariffs started, I check around for prices,” said Sylvia, a part-time nurse who also identified as middle-income.

“If there’s something in this store for $15, you could get it somewhere probably for $12. So you shop in that way more now. Before, you just go and you buy.”

Recent reports show emerging signs of strain on less affluent Americans.

Data from the Census Bureau showed inflation-adjusted household income rose last year only for the highest earning households. Those in the low and middle-income brackets, on the other hand, did not see statistically significant changes.

And a study from the Boston Federal Reserve last month found that low and middle-income consumers are facing higher levels of credit card debt than they did before the coronavirus pandemic. It is wealthier Americans who are increasingly propping up the consumer economy, the study showed.

Overall, the consumer is doing reasonably well, said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. But those with less of a savings cushion are poised to be hit particularly hard by tariffs, he added.

“When you peel back the layers of the onion, it’s clear that we have a very bifurcated consumer,” he said.