The overall cost of groceries didn’t increase in February as lower prices for pork, dairy products and fruits and vegetables offset the spike in egg prices and higher prices for beef.
The overall Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in February while the cost of food eaten at home was unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The index for grocery prices is up 1.9% from a year ago. They had risen 0.5% in January.
Egg prices rose another 10.4% in February, driven by the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, and are 58.8% higher than in February 2024.
Beef prices rose another 2.4% in February and are 7.6% above a year ago, as cattle production remains constrained.
The price of pork fell 1.4% last month, led by a 2.3% decline in the cost of bacon.
Dairy products cost 1% less, led by a 1.2% drop in cheese prices, while prices for fruits and vegetables fell 0.5% in February. Prices for fresh tomatoes dropped 3.2% and the cost of citrus fell 1.7%.
USDA’s Economic Research Service is forecasting that grocery prices will rise 3.3% this year. The average increase in the cost of food eaten at home since 2005 is 2.6% a year.
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ERS estimates that egg prices will be 41% higher in 2025 than last year.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday cited a recent softening in egg prices as evidence that the Trump administration's plan for battling the avian flu is working.
Andy Harig, vice president of tax, trade, sustainability and policy development for FMI-The Food Industry Association, which represents major grocery chains, said Wednesday the CPI data showed supermarket prices are moving “in the right direction,” noting that egg prices were still a larger driver of food costs.
But he warned in a statement that the uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariff policy “poses a challenge to economic conditions moving forward. It remains to be seen what impact they may have on food prices."
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