Latest reading on food-price inflation spells good news for certain diet plans
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The latest reading on food price inflation is a win-win for promoting certain diet plans and saving money.
By the numbers: Apples (down 14.5%), frozen fruits and vegetables (-1.7%) and starches like potatoes (-4.7%), rice (-3.7%) and pasta (-2.5%) saw some of the steepest declines in prices from a year ago, according to this morning's CPI report for July.
On the other hand, prices for bacon (up 8.5%), pork chops (+7.3%), hot dogs (+9.7%) and vending machine goodies (+5.4%) continue to outpace inflation for the broader food category.
- Frozen noncarbonated juices and drink prices are up 19.2% over last year.
- And some staples, like eggs (+19.1%) and butter (+6.1%) — non-negotiables for many — will still hurt to indulge.
The big picture: On a serious note, grocery prices are a core consumer concern and a common barometer for many people's perception of the economy.
- Inflation for at-home foods has cooled more rapidly than for out-of-home dining as supply chain and labor issues have eased over the last four years.
- Grocery prices are rising more slowly, but they are still rising. That means the price level of groceries in aggregate are the highest on record, leaving little room for consumer anger to cool off in stride.
Between the lines: Food prepared at home is still the better bet for saving money — with prices growing at a pace of just 1.1% annually compared to 4.1% for dining out.
- Annual inflation for food prices overall has fallen from a recent high of 11.4% in August 2022 to a 2.2% annual increase as of July.
What they're saying: "We're not going to go back to prices that we were used to before Covid," David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, told The New York Times.
What we're watching: This year's atypical hurricane season could wipe out entire crops and send food inflation in the wrong direction, Meagan Schoenberger, a senior economist at KPMG, told NYT.
