Pulled by strong meat prices, September food prices were 4.6 percent higher than a year ago, said the Labor Department on Wednesday. The monthly Consumer Price Index report said the annual U.S. inflation rate was 5.4 percent in September, compared with 5.3 percent in the preceding month.
Energy and food showed large increases for the past month but prices for used cars fell. They were a factor in previous monthly increases and remain 24 percent higher than a year ago. “The energy index rose 24.8 percent over the last 12 months and the food index increased 4.6 percent over that period,” it said.
Among grocery items, the index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs was up by 10.5 percent from September 2020. “The index for beef rose 17.6 percent over the year,” said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The smallest increase was for dairy and related complex, which rose 0.6 percent over the last 12 months.”