Grocery prices for Americans rose in May, adding to the pain of consumers suffering from higher prices.
Prices of all food items rose by 0.2% month-on-month in May, rising after leveling off two months ago.
Food prices rose 0.1% in May, up from a 0.2% decline in April. Restaurant food prices continued to rise, rising 0.5% for the month, up from 0.4% in April.
Food price inflation has slowed slightly compared to a few months ago, but is still significantly higher than before the pandemic. Food prices rose 6.7% last year.
Fruit and vegetable prices rose 1.3% in May, following a fall of 0.5% in April. The meat, poultry, fish and eggs index fell 1.2% in May after falling 0.3% in April.
Egg prices fell 13.8%, the biggest drop in the index since January 1951. Egg prices fell after falling 1.5% in April and 10.9% in March. Egg prices had skyrocketed months ago following an outbreak of bird flu and rising costs for fuel, feed and packaging.
About two years ago, food prices began to soar as labor, transportation and raw material costs rose, partly due to supply chain disruptions and soaring fuel prices. As a result, companies have passed some of the higher costs on to consumers. Other factors, such as extreme drought in the western United States, are also putting pressure on supplies and pushing up food prices.
While the cost of some food ingredients and other raw materials has fallen in recent months, consumers have mostly continued to buy their products, prompting some large companies such as PepsiCo to continue raising prices for the foreseeable future, or It suggests that it will continue to raise prices.
Still, economists say overall food prices could show signs of easing as labor pressure eases, wage growth slows across the food industry and less stress on businesses. The recent drop in fuel prices has also contributed to lower transportation costs.
Biden administration officials offal Officials stressed that food price increases have slowed recently, but said “the work is not done yet and there is considerable uncertainty in the outlook”.
While some shoppers are beginning to find comfort in the grocery store, they continue to complain about the high prices of food.
Hannah Hensley, a 29-year-old high school assistant, was shopping at a Giant Food Store in Arlington, Va., on Sunday, frustrated by the high cost of groceries and the strain on her family budget. He said he was. She said her family’s weekly groceries, including her parents and her sister, now total about $100, up from about $70 before the pandemic.
But she said she was happy to see the prices of some items come down. She stopped buying eggs a few months ago when the price of her eggs soared to about $5 a carton. But she said her 12 eggs currently cost about $2.50 and on Sunday she picked up a carton of eggs along with oatmeal, tomatoes, mushrooms and a slice of marble cake.
Mr. Hensley said he noticed that overall food costs were not as high as they were a few months ago and hoped prices would fall or at least remain stable.
“It’s hard to budget when prices change all the time,” she said.
