Pawnshops become last resort for needy in US

With fuel and food prices soaring, some people in the United States are lugging their belongings to pawnshops to raise cash.

"They're coming in and they're pawning their personal items to help them out, and we're here to help them out," Eilsel Garcia, owner of Pawn Texas in Lubbock, told Fox 34 News.

"People have to go to work sometimes and this morning I had a customer come in and they were on 'E' (empty on their fuel tanks), and they pawned some personal items to help them out. So, they're really struggling. Sometimes, it's an inheritance from their grandma or their mom or even a wedding ring."

Items for sale include firearms, tools, computers, phones, video game consoles, and even items with sentimental value like inherited heirlooms, Newsweek reported.

"Gas and groceries are a daily occurrence. I've got to feed my family. I can't get to work," Patrick Wade, owner of P&J Pawn in Dallas, told NBC DFW news some of the reasons people give when they are at his shop.

"Our gas budget has almost doubled, and it's still rising so," Mindi Diamond told CBS affiliate WOWK in Huntington, West Virginia.

Diamond said she is considering trading in her sport utility vehicle for a more fuel-efficient car.

The nation's average gas price has recently declined, falling 4.2 cents from a week ago to $4.97 per gallon on Monday, according to price tracking website GasBuddy. But the national average is up 37.3 cents from a month ago and $1.92 per gallon higher than a year ago.

"Finally, some relief! For the first time in nine weeks, gasoline prices have fallen, following a broad sell-off in oil markets last week, pushing the national average back under the $5 level with most states seeing relief at the pump," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Rising prices

The consumer price index rose 8.6 percent in May, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The energy index rose 34.6 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending September 2005.

The food index increased 10.1 percent for the 12 months ending May, the first increase of 10 percent or more since the period ending March 1981.

Inflation has made the average US household spend an extra $460 per month, said Moody's Analytics senior economist Ryan Sweet.

Joshua Hobson, manager at Tri-State Pawn and Jewelry in Huntington, told WOWK that they have been seeing some new faces.

"It's usually just kind of the regulars and stuff that kind of use us for a bank essentially, but there are a lot of new people that are coming in," Hobson said. "Groceries went through the roof, of course.

"So everyone's just like struggling to eat. They are obviously going to find food to eat first before that, then they'll come here and get money for their utility bills, gas, et cetera."

hengweili@chinadailyusa.com