The price of a pound of bread rose in October to its highest point in years, even as prices for some other goods fell from recent highs.
The average price for a pound of white bread in U.S. cities climbed to $2 in October, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s up more than 6% from the start of 2023, more than 10% from October 2022 and more than 28% higher than January 2022.
It’s the highest price in bureau data dating back to the start of 2013. Numbers for November aren’t available yet.
You can see details in the chart below. If you can’t see the chart, click here to open it in a new window.
Inflation has been pushing the cost of numerous common grocery items higher in recent years.
Overall inflation has eased from its peak of over 9% last year. The Consumer Price Index for all goods showed prices rose 3.2% in October from the prior year, down from an increase of 3.7% in September.
The Federal Reserve’s target for inflation is an annual rate of 2%.
Prices for foods are often more volatile than others in the economy so it’s not surprising some items, like bread, are still seeing prices rise.
Other grocery goods have seen sharp declines from high points reached in 2022 and 2023.
The price for a dozen Grade A eggs dropped sharply in October to an average in U.S. cities of $2.07. That’s down over 57% from the high point in January and down over 39% from October 2022. The price was still up 7.4% from January 2022.
The cost of milk has also eased. The price for a gallon of whole milk was $3.93 in October in U.S. cities. That’s down more than 6.5% from January and over 6.1% lower than October 2022.
The cost was still up 3.7% from January 2022.
You can see the latest details on milk and egg prices in the charts below. If you can’t see the charts, click here to see the chart for eggs and click here to see the chart for milk.
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