Egg Prices Continue to Skyrocket

Egg prices have nearly jumped out of their shell in the last month.

According to new Consumer Price Index information released today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of a dozen eggs is now $4.25. That’s an 18.4% spike in just 1 month.

And it’s 137.7% – well more than double – the cost of a dozen eggs at this time last year ($1.78).

The cost of eggs is affecting restaurants and food makers nationwide, as eggs are a vital food item in most kitchens. It’s one reason why restaurants are being forced to raise prices on their customers, making it more difficult for them to do business.

Egg Prices Increase – January 2023

One of the reasons for the considerable jump in egg prices remains avian flu. According to the United Egg Producers (aka Egg Farmers of America), there were 25 commercial detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu) that affected 3.8 million birds in December 2022.

Overall in 2022, there were 57.82 million birds affected by avian flu, which surpassed the number in 2015.

United Egg Producers does expect that number to decline over the next several months but another spike to happen near Springtime.

Food Costs Remain High

According to the Consumer Price Index information released today, food prices remain high nationwide on almost all items.

The one exception is fresh fruits and vegetable, which dropped 0.6% in the last month, and dairy products dropped 0.3%. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, as a whole, rose 1%.

Egg price increases have exceedingly outpaced the overall index, BLS notes.

Food-at-home prices are up nearly 12% over this time last year. And food-away-from-home items are up 8.3% in a year.

These costs not only put pressure on restaurant owners and food producers to raise their prices but also strain consumer wallets, making them less likely to want to dine out.

Fuel Costs Dropping

If there’s a silver lining to today’s report, it’s the cost of fuel.

While fuel costs still remain higher than this time last year, fears of record high prices on things like gasoline and heating oil have not been realized, at least not yet this winter.

Heating oil prices have dropped 17.1% in the last month but remain 26% higher than last year at this time.

Gasoline has also dropped in price, down 12.9% for a gallon of regular unleaded in a month. Diesel prices, although down 8% in the last month, are still up 34% over last year.

This article, "Egg Prices Continue to Skyrocket" was first published on Small Business Trends