Beef prices in the grocery store are 14.2 percent higher than a year ago, part of a broad rise in prices for “food at home,” said the Labor Department in its Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday. While it was the fourth month in a row of surging grocery prices, there were signs that food inflation is easing.
While the overall U.S. inflation rate was a tame 1 percent, grocery prices in July were 4.6 percent higher than they were a year earlier, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “All six major food group indexes rose over that span. The index for beef increased 14.2 percent over the past 12 months, contributing to an 8.4 percent increase in the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs,” said the BLS. “The remaining groups rose more modestly.”
The 4.6 percent annual increase in July followed increases of 5.6 percent in June, 4.8 percent in May, and 4.1 percent in April. Some of the largest U.S. cattle and hog slaughter plants slowed or shut down temporarily in late April and early May because of coronavirus outbreaks among their workers. Retail beef prices rose in response to reduced supplies.
On a month-to-month basis, food-at-home prices declined by 1.1 percent in July, the first decrease of the year. “This decline was led by the index for beef, which fell 8.2 percent in July after increasing sharply in recent months,” said the BLS. “Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes fell in July.”
The Consumer Price Index report is available here.