Beef prices break record
A spike in cost-per-pound makes the meat its most expensive ever
By Forrest J.H.
A hamburger dinner has never been costlier.
A 21-cent price jump last month brought ground chuck beef to its new record-high price of $5.42 per pound, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The previous record high was set in June 2020, when food infrastructure worldwide reeled from the first waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, beef prices had already begun a steady increase years before the pandemic began. Its cost has increased 67 cents since this time last year, and increased $1.83 since March 2017.
Apparently, beef producers are still struggling to turn a profit even at current prices, agricultural economist Michal Swanson said in a Yahoo Finance article. Swanson pointed to the increasing cost of everything as a cause of beef price inflation.
The beef price spike is also notable as other staple foods tracked by Oven Light Journal seemed to find some stability between February and March. Flour and rice prices increased just one cent per pound and chicken four cents. Bread, milk, eggs and tomato prices fell just a few cents while bananas stayed exactly the same.
Shoppers may find some relief most groceries covered by food stamps did not significantly jump last month, but almost all of them are within just a few percentage points of their record highs.
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Bureau of Labor Statistics data finder
Consumer Price Index – Average Price Data
https://beta.bls.gov/dataQuery/find?st=0&r=20&s=popularity%3AD&fq=survey:[ap]&more=0
Bureau of Labor Statistics
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https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-average-price-data.htm
Inflation: Grocery prices reaccelerate, now 25% higher than pre-pandemic
By Brooke DiPalma
April 10, 2024
Yahoo Finance
