Food inflation in the U.S. breaks 42-year record… and there’s no end in sight
Ethan Huff
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded expectations, rising by 8.3 percent in April as food inflation broke a 42-year record.
Everything from meat to dairy to baby products and beyond is now up about 10.8 percent on average at grocery stores. And sadly, the situation is likely to get even worse in the coming weeks and months.
The following breakdown shows the percentage at which food prices are rising based on category:
• Ground beef: up 14.8 percent
• Steak: up 11.8 percent
• Bacon: up 17.7 percent
• Pork chops: up 14.0 percent
• Chicken: up 16.4 percent
• Fresh fish: up 13.0 percent
• Fresh whole milk: up 15.5 percent
• Coffee: up 13.5 percent
• Fresh fruit: up 8.3 percent
• Lettuce: up 12.7 percent
• Salad dressing: up 13.1 percent
• Soup: up 13.1 percent
• Baby food: up 13 percent
• Breakfast cereal: up 12.1 percent
• Bread: up 9.1 percent
• Biscuits and muffins: up 10.1 percent
• Lunchmeat: up 14.4 percent
Since last April, real average hourly earnings decreased by 2.6 percent
Dining out or grabbing takeaway is hardly any better. Fast-food prices are up about seven percent, on average, while full-service restaurant prices are up an astounding 87 percent. Even vending machine prices have risen by about 7.1 percent.
The official numbers suggest that inflation is still rising month by month, but now at a slower rate of increase compared to previous months. This is assuming the government is telling us the truth about inflation numbers.
Compared to March, prices went up another 0.3 percent in April, making it the 11th straight month that inflation has been above 5 percent
In March, prices rose at an annual rate of 8.5 percent. Since September 2021, April is the first month that year-over-year inflation numbers were not higher than the month earlier, though they still exceeded expectations.
“Economists had forecast CPI to rise by 0.2 percent for the month and 8.1 percent compared with a year ago,” reported Breitbart News.
“Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.6 percent, well above the 0.4 percent estimate. Compared with a year ago, core prices were up 6.2 percent, above the 6.0 percent expected.”
Meanwhile, average hourly earnings for all employees actually fell 0.1 percent from March to April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. From April 2021 to April 2022, real average hourly earnings, seasonally adjusted, decreased by 2.6 percent.
Both the stock market and the cryptocurrency markets continue to tumble amid all the chaos. These high inflation numbers suggest that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates at a much faster pace moving forward if there is any chance of prices stabilizing.
“Don’t forget that inflation is cumulative,” wrote someone at Breitbart. “8.3% today is ON TOP OF what it was a year ago. The annual % may decline a bit, but the overall % never declines.”
“And besides, 8.3% annually is a fake number. It’s about twice that, maybe more, as everybody knows.”
“A lot of inflation is hidden by the way the statistics are created,” explained another. “For example, the true cost of housing: if you have a fixed interest mortgage, your mortgage payment doesn’t increase, and when that is included in the mix of your other expenses, it apparently lowers your personal inflation.”
“In addition, people that would ordinarily be buying a house simply won’t buy, because they can’t afford to. So most of the housing cost inflation (which has to include the impact of skyrocketing mortgage rates) doesn’t hit the nationalized inflation rate.”
“The same is true of automobile costs, and there are many other examples. In some cases, it may not be a deliberate rigging of the statistics, but in others, it probably is,” this same commenter added about how the public is being deceived.
More related news about rising food prices can be found at FoodInflation.news.
Sources include:
https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-05-12-us-food-inflation-breaks-42-year-record.html