American consumers are continuing to face elevated inflation despite the pace of price growth slowing, with grocery price growth continuing to strain household budgets.
Food prices increased 0.4% last month compared with August and are up 2.3% from last September, just shy of the headline inflation gauge.
Dairy products are up 0.5% compared with last year and were little changed compared with a month ago.
Milk is up 0.8% in September compared with a year ago, despite a monthly price decline of 0.3%.
Coffee prices declined 1% in September relative to last year, even though they were up 1.7% on a monthly basis compared with August.
The growth in grocery prices is putting further pressure on household budgets, and American consumers are still facing high levels of inflation even though the rate of price growth is decreasing.
The Labor Department released the September consumer price index (CPI) on Thursday. The index is a broad indicator of the cost of daily necessities like groceries, gas, and rent. It showed that prices were up 0.2 percent from August of last year and up 2 points4 percent from a year ago.
Just shy of the headline inflation gauge, food prices rose by 0.4 percent in September compared to August and by 2 points 3 percent in September of last year. While food prices at home are up 1.3 percent from the previous year, food costs away from home are up 31.9 percent after increasing 0.4 percent in September.
Of the main food categories monitored by the CPI, the prices of meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased by 0.8 percent in September and are now up 30.9 percent from the previous year.
In September, inflation rises by 2.4 percent, exceeding forecasts.
The most expensive item both monthly and annually was eggs, whose prices increased by 8 points 4 percent in August and 39 points 6 percent in September over the previous year.
Avian flu outbreaks that have forced egg producers to quarantine or, in some cases, euthanize flocks have made inflationary pressures brought on by normal cost pressures and consumer demand for eggs worse. This has limited the supply of eggs.
SUING A FEW MEAT PACKAGING COMPANIES, MCDONALD’S CLAIMS IT COLLUDED TO INFLATE BEEF PRICES.
Prices for beef and veal have increased by 4.2 percent over the past year, while prices for other meats, such as poultry (+0.5%) and pork (+15%), have increased less dramatically.
Fruit and vegetable prices increased by 0.9 percent in September compared to the same month last year and by 0.7 percent from the previous year. September saw a 15.3% increase in frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks over the same month the previous year.
Dairy products have increased by 0.5 percent from the previous year and have not changed much from one month ago. Even though milk prices decreased by 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, they were still up 0.8 percent in September compared to the same month last year.
A significant McDonald’s French fry supplier closes its Washington plant and eliminates jobs due to ongoing inflation.
Certain grocery items have seen price reductions or are essentially unchanged from the previous year.
With a monthly increase of 0.3 percent, cereal and bakery product prices have not significantly changed from a year ago.
In September, coffee prices decreased by 1% from the same month the previous year, despite rising by 1.7 % from August to September.
Notwithstanding a 2.4 percent increase in comparison to a month earlier, Apple’s September prices saw an annual decline of 11.3%.
Potato prices have decreased 3.5 percent from a year ago despite rising 1.8 percent on a monthly basis.
