food inflation
Highest food prices since 2011 may persist for months
After increasing for 12 months in a row during the pandemic, international food prices are the highest they've been since September 2011, said the monthly Food Price Index, released on Thursday. The index surged 4.8 percent in May, its largest monthly increase in nearly 11 years.
Food prices rise faster than overall U.S. inflation rate
The increases are seemingly small – an additional 27 cents for a pound of ground chuck at the grocery store, for example – but they are part of a brisk 3.5 percent increase in food prices since the pandemic hit the United States last March. The increase in food prices outpaced the overall U.S. inflation rate of 2.6 percent, the government said on Tuesday.
Poultry and seafood prices advance, keeping food inflation above normal
Prices for many categories of food have been slow to retreat from pandemic-driven peaks, said the USDA. As a result, seafood and poultry prices throughout the year will be higher than usual, bolstering the USDA forecast that grocery prices will rise by 3 percent this year.
Consumers will pay higher meat prices through 2020
Grocery store prices for meat are declining after their springtime coronavirus surge, but more slowly than expected, meaning that shoppers will pay noticeably more at the meat counter this year than in 2019, said USDA economists. In the monthly Food Price Outlook, the USDA forecast meat prices will rise 6.5 percent this year, more than double their usual rate.
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.
Meat prices fall for first time this year
After soaring because of coronavirus outbreaks among packing plant employees, meat prices are on the decline for the first time this year and are headed lower, said the USDA on Tuesday.
Grocery prices surge for fourth straight month, pushed by meat
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 on Wednesday. While it was the fourth month in a row of surging grocery prices, there were signs that food inflation is easing.
Surge in grocery prices will bring a 5 percent increase in SNAP benefits
Food stamp benefits will rise by 5.3 percent in October, to a maximum of $680 per month for a family of four in the continental United States, said the USDA Food and Nutrition Service on Wednesday. The cost-of-living adjustment was announced even as anti-hunger groups are calling for a temporary 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits during the pandemic.
Largest annual increase in grocery prices since 2011
Grocery prices will rise by a higher-than-average 3 percent this year, due largely to the coronavirus-propelled surge in the cost of meat, poultry, and fish at the supermarket, forecast the USDA on Thursday. It would be the largest annual increase since 2011. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Beef prices soar, food inflation is highest in more than eight years
Food prices rose sharply for the second month in a row, with beef recording its largest one-month increase ever, as the U.S. food inflation rate hit 4 percent in May, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. It is the highest rate since January 2012. While food prices surged, the overall U.S. inflation rate for the past 12 months was a tiny 0.1 percent. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Grocery prices rising at highest rate since 2012
Coronavirus constrictions in the meat supply, which prompted some grocery chains to limit sales per customer, are driving the highest rate of price inflation at supermarkets in eight years, said the USDA in a monthly forecast. Grocery prices will rise by a higher-than-average 2.5 percent this year, double the previous estimate.
Vegetable prices rise but food inflation stays dormant
Thanks to declines in food prices in 2016 and 2017, grocery store prices will stand at a lower overall level at the end of this year than they were at the end of 2015, said the monthly Food Price Outlook. For the second month in a row, USDA raised its forecast of price increases for fresh vegetables but forecast a scant 0.5 percent rise in food prices for the year.
U.S. heads for fourth straight year of low grocery-price inflation
Grocery prices will rise by a nearly invisible 0.5 percent this year and a modest 1.5 percent in 2019, estimated the USDA’s monthly Food Price Outlook on Thursday. If the forecast proves true, 2019 would be the fourth year in a row that supermarket prices rise at a much slower rate than the usual 2.1 percent annually.
Halfway through the year and food inflation is negligible
Americans are headed for the fourth year in a row of lower-than-normal increases in food prices, according to the USDA’s Food Price Outlook. The monthly report estimated that prices will rise by just 1.5 percent this year.
Grocery prices stand still, tamping down food inflation
Retail food prices are living up to USDA's four-month-old forecast of tepid food inflation, with a barely preceptable increase of 1 percent. In its monthly Food Price Outlook, the USDA said the inflation outlook held steady for all categories of food except for dairy products, which declined to 0.5 percent for the year.
Popular U.S. produce helps hold down food inflation
Lower prices for tomatoes, potatoes, and apples — three of the four most popular fruits and vegetables sold in America — are helping to hold down food price inflation, according to a government forecast.
The food tab for a spring picnic is up 2 percent
Americans will pay about $1 more than a year ago if they plan a spring picnic that includes sandwiches, potato salad, orange juice, and shredded cheese, according to an informal survey of grocery store prices in 23 states.
Food inflation forecast lowered
U.S. food prices will rise a scant 1.5 percent this year, continuing a three-year run of below-normal food inflation rates, said a USDA forecast, pointing to grocery store prices that are at a near standstill.