Some prices are still going up but others have fallen
Prices of common grocery items have largely fallen or kept stable in the first half of 2024, underscoring how many Americans are feeling better about inflation.
The ConsumerAffairs Datasembly Shopping Cart Index fell2.7% in June from January. The index, based on average prices of 25 commonly-bought grocery items, was down $4.33, totaling$153.32 in June from $157.65 in January.
The five items with the biggestdrops were cookies, peanut butter, potato chips, colaand white rice, while the biggest price hikes were forbacon, waffles, mayonnaise, frosted doughnuts and organic eggs.
Still, price drops outweighed price hikes in the first half of the year. See our chart below on the prices of these 25 items at the end of June and how they moved since January.
What'sbehind grocery prices?
The federal government's index tracking grocery priceshas outpaced overall inflation since the start of the pandemic, jumping 25% in the firstquarter of 2023from the fourth quarter of 2019.
But grocery prices have eased since the start of 2023 because commodity prices for raw foods have fallen, saidThomas Klitgaard, economic research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, ina July blog post. The savings have offset higher wages for workers, he said, adding that corporations squeezingoutprofits have been a smaller contributor to price increases.
If raw food prices and wages were to rise together again, the wallets of grocery shoppers would take a hit.In May, Walmart and Target suggested that price cuts were on the way for grocery and household items.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-07-18 11:13:20
