Consumer Price Index

Food inflation below 3 percent for third month in a row

The food price inflation rate edged lower, to 2.6 percent, in January, the third month in a row that food inflation was below 3 percent, said the Consumer Price Index report on Tuesday. The overall U.S. inflation rate was higher than expected at 3.1 percent.

As food inflation rate falls, consumer optimism rises

The U.S. food inflation rate, on the decline since August 2022, shrank to an annualized rate of 2.7 percent at the end of 2023, said the monthly Consumer Price Index report on Thursday. A Purdue survey said Americans’ expectations of food inflation are the lowest in two years, suggesting consumers are more optimistic about prices this year.

Food inflation rate is lowest in two years

Although the U.S. inflation rate is up for the second month in a row, the annualized food inflation rate of 4.3 percent is the lowest since the 3.7 percent rate in August 2021, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The food inflation rate has fallen each month since peaking at 11.4 percent in August 2022.

Food inflation rate is lowest in nearly two years

The U.S. food inflation rate, on the decline since last fall, has fallen to 4.9 percent, aided by the second month in a row of modestly lower prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, said the government on Thursday. It was the lowest food inflation rate since September 2021.

Food inflation rate is lowest in 20 months

Led by lower meat, poultry, fish, and egg prices, the food inflation rate fell to 5.7 percent in June, the lowest annualized figure since October 2021, said the Labor Department on Wednesday.

Food inflation rate is falling rapidly

Although it remains high, the food inflation rate is one third lower than it was at the start of the year, the government said on Tuesday. The food inflation rate of 10.1 percent in January has tumbled to 6.7 percent on an annualized basis, according to the Consumer Price Index report.

Grocery prices fall for first time since September 2020

Egg prices fell nearly 11 percent during March, contributing to the first decline — 0.3 percent for the month — in grocery price inflation since September 2020, said the Labor Department on Wednesday. The overall food inflation rate, which includes restaurant meals, takeout food, and school cafeterias, was down for the seventh month in a row.

Food inflation slows, though still above 10 percent

Food inflation is down for the fourth month in a row, dipping to an annualized rate of 10.4 percent, aided by beef prices that are lower than a year ago, said the Labor Department on Thursday. President Biden said the 0.3 percent increase in food prices during December was the smallest in almost two years.

Food inflation rate slows for first time in 16 months

U.S. food prices are 11.2 percent higher than a year ago, modestly lower than the inflation rate of the previous month and ending a string of month-over-month increases dating from June 2021, said the government on Thursday.

Food is a factor in inflation double whammy

Wholesale prices rocketed by a near-record 11.3 percent for the year ending in June, said the Labor Department on Thursday, a day after it reported that consumer prices had soared 9.1 percent during same period. Food was an inflationary factor in both reports, although some analysts saw signs that the momentum for higher prices was easing.

Grocery prices up 10.8 percent even as overall inflation rate declines

Although the U.S. inflation rate slowed to 8.3 percent for the year ending in April, food continues to cost more and more, said the Labor Department on Wednesday. Grocery prices shot up 10.8 percent in the past year, driven by higher prices for such foods as bacon, up 17.7 percent, chicken, up 16.4 percent, and eggs, up 22.6 percent.

Pushed by high meat prices, food inflation rate hits 7 percent

Food prices are rising at a faster and faster rate, reported the Labor Department on Thursday. Food inflation, a modest 2.2 percent a year last May, started 2022 at a 7 percent gallop, the eighth month in a row the rate has gone up.

Food inflation to decline in 2022, if coronavirus cooperates

Food prices surged by 6.3 percent during 2021, nearly three times the usual rate of annual increase, but food inflation is expected to decrease this year, said the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday. Retail prices for beef and pork "show signs of weakening," and many commodity prices are forecast to decline late this year following large global harvests, said an AEI paper.

After months of climbing, food inflation reaches 6.3 percent

Meat prices fell in the final weeks of 2021, but food inflation climbed again, to an annual rate of 6.3 percent, said the Labor Department on Wednesday. The overall U.S. inflation rate of 7 percent for the past 12 months was the highest since June 1982.

Food prices rise at fastest pace in 41 years

The food inflation rate is up for the ninth month in a row and now matches the U.S. inflation rate of 7.9 percent a year, with double-digit increases in the price of meat, milk, and fresh fruit, said the government on Thursday. Prices for groceries rose even faster, 8.6 percent, than the overall food index, which includes food sold at restaurants, fast-food outlets, and company cafeterias.

Thanksgiving dinner will cost more. But how much?

Americans can cook the classic Thanksgiving meal featuring roast turkey and pumpkin pie for $5.33 a person, according to an informal survey of supermarket prices. But while all sides agree that ingredients for the meal will cost more this year, there is a wide range of viewpoints on how large the increase will be.

Meal prices are a factor in surging U.S. inflation rate

Consumer prices rose by a larger-than-expected 5.4 percent over the past year, the biggest 12-month increase in the U.S. inflation rate since August 2008, said the Labor Department on Tuesday. Prices for restaurant meals, carry-out food, food from vending machines, and snacks were up by a strong 4.2 percent as the food service sector reopened after pandemic restrictions.

Grocery prices fall for second month in a row

Lower prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs were the driving factor for a slight decline in grocery prices during August, the second month in a row that supermarket prices were down, said the monthly Consumer Price Index. Despite the decreases, food inflation ran at 4.6 percent in the past 12 months, rising far more rapidly than the overall U.S. rate of 1.3 percent.