Food prices are still hot to handle, the latest Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates.
Lower energy prices helped the overall inflation rate ease to an annual rate of 8.3% in August compared with 8.5% in July. However, retail food prices in August were 13.5% higher than a year ago.
Increases in the shelter, food and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the August increase, according to the report. On the plus side for consumers, the gasoline price index fell 10.6% in August.
The all-items index, less food and energy prices, was up 6.3% compared with a year ago.
Energy easing
Compared with August a year ago, the energy index was up 23.8%. Still, the report noted that was a smaller increase than the 32.9% increase over a year ago reported in July.
The food index increased 11.4% over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The grocery food inflation index was up 13.5% over a year ago, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending March 1979.
Retail fruit and vegetable prices were up 9.4% compared with year-ago levels, according to the report.
The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases, compared with a year ago, of:
- 16.4% for cereal products;
- 16.2% for dairy and related products; and
- 10.6% for meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
The August restaurant food price index was up 8% compared with a year ago. The inflation rate for restaurant full-service meals rose 9% over the last 12 months, while the index for limited-service meals rose 7.2% over the last year.
Confirming the Consumer Price Index numbers, U.S. retail-advertised prices for fresh fruits and vegetables showed an average of $1.31 per unit in September, up nearly 15% from $1.14 per unit in September last year, according to statistics from the USDA.