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Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, consumer prices rose 4.3% in the 12-month period ending in July, slightly less than the increase in June. Overall, prices rose 5.4%, the same increase seen in June.
Looking only at July, consumer prices rose 0.5% overall, less than the 0.9% increase in the previous month. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.3% in July.
Here’s what you need to know about what got more expensive in the past month.
It’s back to school, but if you were going to start your kids’ morning off with a bowl of cereal or grab a sandwich and cookies in their lunchbox, you could end up with an expensive meal. The price of grains and baked goods – which fell in June – rose 1.2% in July, marking the largest month-on-month increase since April 2020.
Cookies are 1.9% more expensive. Donuts are 2.8% more expensive. And crackers and cracker products were up 3.7%.
As usual, meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products have become more expensive in the last month.
In recent months, a silver lining in these reports has been the drop in prices for frankfurters. We hate to hear bad news, but with a 4.8% increase, hot dogs saw the biggest price increase of any meat product in July. Roast pork, steaks and ribs have also seen significant increases and are now 4.4% more expensive.
Despite the news from Frankfurt, there are still prices that have come down this month. If you need meat, maybe go for ham, which is 1.5% cheaper. Fresh fruits and vegetables also became cheaper in July. Citrus fruits are now 5.4% cheaper, so stock up on oranges, lemons and limes.
Overall, food prices jumped 0.7% during the month of July and are up 3.4% from the same period last year.
Although food prices have increased in the past month, it could still be cheaper to go to the grocery store and enjoy a home-cooked meal. Restaurant and take-out food prices rose 0.8% in July, their largest monthly increase since February 1981. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of 4.6 %.
Gas
Gas prices have been rising steadily, recently hitting seven-year highs. Prices rose 2.4% during the month of July. Compared to the same period last year, gas is more than 41% more expensive. As of Wednesday morning, the average price per gallon was $ 3.19, according to AAA.
Clothes
While clothing prices overall did not change in July, some categories skyrocketed. Prices for women’s clothing increased 5.5% in a one-month period and 18.8% compared to last year. Men’s sports suits and coats rose 2.9% in July. These prices may be cheaper than before the pandemic, but as plans to return to the office solidify and vaccinations continue, prices could continue to rise.
If you’re anxious to buy something new but don’t want to hurt your wallet, prices for women’s outerwear fell 2.6% last month and men’s shoes fell. by 1.2%.
Cars and trucks
Car prices are skyrocketing. This isn’t exactly news – inventories of new cars have been stretched for months due to a global shortage of computer chips and supply chain disruptions.
New vehicles were 1.7% more expensive in July. Although prices continue to rise, this is a smaller increase than in June, when prices were up 2%.
Accommodation
As more Americans have been vaccinated, the demand for travel has increased, pushing up hotel prices. In July, prices for hotels and motels jumped 6.8%, slightly less than the 7.9% increase recorded in June. Over the past year, hotel and motel prices have risen 24.1% on the back of growing travel demand that has accompanied the pandemic recovery.
But as accommodation prices rise, other travel prices that have steadily risen have fallen or have risen at a much slower pace. Rental car prices, which have increased a total of 73.5% since last summer, fell 4.6% in July. And air fares, up 19% overall from a year ago, fell 0.1% in July.
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