Over the 12 months ended August 2020, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.3 percent. Food prices increased 4.1 percent over the last 12 months. Within the food category, food at home prices rose 4.6 percent, including a 7.1-percent increase in prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. Food away from home prices increased 3.5 percent over this period. read more »
This article describes the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on price changes for food categories within the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics import/export price indexes, producer price indexes, and consumer price indexes. In addition, the article assesses the pandemic’s impact on price data collection efforts. Safety precautions established during the pandemic created data collection challenges for some price indexes more than others. read more »