grocery prices
Highest grocery price inflation in nine years
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.
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.
Food prices forecast to decline to longterm average in 2021
Grocery prices will rise a modest 1.5 percent in 2021, close to the long-term average and half of the larger-than-usual increase expected this year, said the USDA in its first forecast of food inflation in the new year.
Beef fuels biggest increase in grocery prices in nearly a decade
Grocery price inflation is becoming less volatile
The United States is headed for the fifth year in a row of lower-than-average increases in grocery prices, part of a longer trend of smaller and less volatile changes in food inflation, said two USDA economists.
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.
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.
U.S. sees first two-year streak of food deflation since 1950s
Grocery prices are down for the second year in a row, the first multi-year run of food deflation since the mid-1950s. In its monthly Food Price Outlook, the USDA credits the strong dollar for the year-on-year decline in grocery prices of 1.3 percent in 2016 and 0.2 percent in 2017; only the seventh and eighth years, respectively, of deflation since World War II.
For the second year in a row, no overall increase in retail food prices
Thanks to the strong dollar, food inflation is standing still this year following the first instance, in 2016, of food deflation since the 1960s, says the USDA. In a new forecast, USDA economists say overall supermarket price levels in 2018 could be lower than they were in 2015.
Lowest cost in four years for traditional Thanksgiving dinner
A spot check of grocery prices in 39 states found that the ingredients for a traditional Thanksgiving meal will cost 1.5-percent less than last year, and, at $49.12 for a dinner for 10, are the lowest since 2013, said the American Farm Bureau Federation. The biggest item for the meal, in weight and dollars — 16-pound turkey — costs $1.40 a pound, or 1.4-percent less than last year.
Amazon’s Whole Foods buyout won’t necessarily lower your grocery bill
Salad green prices high because of California rains
After five years of statewide drought, crop plantings in California have been delayed by too much rain, causing prices to rise. Some industry experts think prices could stay high until mid-May. The delays “have led to shortfalls of crops including lettuce and broccoli and sent wholesale prices soaring,” says Bloomberg News.
Low-inflation years change U.S. average for grocery inflation
Since 2013, grocery prices have risen so slowly that the Agriculture Department has lowered its calculation of the "historical" inflation rate — the 20-year average — to 2.2 percent annually, down from 2.5 percent in 2016. USDA economists say 2017 is shaping up as another year of negligible price increases at the grocery story, now forecast at 0.5 percent.
First annual decline in grocery prices since 1967
Grocery prices are forecast to rise marginally this year, following the first year of food-price deflation since 1967, said USDA’s monthly Food Price Outlook. Supermarket food prices fell by 1.3 percent in 2016, pulled down by lower prices for beef, pork, dairy and eggs, products that account for one-fifth of grocery spending.
The Walmart of organics? Whole Foods’ move to centralize is criticized
Whole Foods’ decision to centralize buying for its U.S. stores will likely make it much harder for smaller producers of organic and natural foods to get to market. The move could thus further solidify the control of the corporate food giants currently dominating the organic and natural foods sector.
Low meat prices to hold down grocery costs in 2017
Grocery prices will virtually stand still in 2017, the second year in a row of unusually low food-price inflation with lower beef and pork prices a factor, says the government. Retail food prices are estimated to rise 1 percent in the new year after falling 0.75 percent this year; typically grocery prices rise 2.5 percent a year.
Consumers say ‘shrinkflation’ continues in food
Three out of four Americans said they have noticed “shrinkflation” at the grocery store within the past 30 days, with snack foods catching their attention most frequently, said a Purdue University report on Wednesday. Shrinkflation is the practice of reducing the amount of food in a package while keeping the price the same.