Food at Home Prices Down 0.2% in April: CPI Report

Food prices showed no change during the month of April, according to the most recent CPI report. This comes after a 0.1% increase in March. In comparison, the consumer price index for All Urban Consumers went up 0.3% during this time on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Food at home

The food at home index went down 0.2% in April. Half of the major grocery store food group indexes increased during this time and half of them decreased. The biggest decrease was seen in the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, which fell 0.7%. The largest increase was in the cereals and bakery products index, which rose 0.6%.

Price changes for the other major grocery store groups included:

• Dairy and related products: +0.1% (-0.1% in March)
• Other food at home: +0.1% (-0.5% in March)
• Nonalcoholic beverages: -0.2% (+0.3% in March)
• Fruits and vegetables: -0.8% (+0.1% in March)

The food at home index rose 1.1% over the past year. During this time, the index for nonalcoholic beverages saw the largest increase at 2.3%, while dairy and related products experienced the greatest decline, at -1.3%.

Food away from home

The food away from home index increased 0.3% in April, the same increase as the previous month. During this time, the index for full service meals went up 0.3% and the index for limited service meals rose 0.4%.

The food away from home index increased 4.1% during the past year. The index for full service meals went up 3.4% during this time and the index for limited service meals increased 4.8%.