Egg Prices Higher Again, Up 150% Over Last Year

Egg prices continued to climb in January, according to Tuesday’s update to the Consumer Price Index.

Eggs are up 13.5% in price over the last month. They’re 150% more expensive now than they were at this time last year, the data shows.

The average price for a dozen Grade A eggs is at $4.82. At this time last year, they were $1.92. If there’s any good news to glean from this update is that the rate of egg prices jumping has slowed slightly. In the last update, egg prices jumped 18.4% the previous month.

The overall inflation rate in January rose 0.5%. It rose just 0.1% in December. Inflation over the last year is 6.4%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the last month, inflation caused prices to rise on the following categories:

Shelter
Motor vehicle insurance
Recreation
Apparel
Household furnishings

Prices adjusted downward on these items in January:

Used cars and trucks
Medical care
Airline fares

Egg Prices Continue to Rise

Eggs aren’t the only thing causing consumers – including millions of small business owners – to dig deeper.

Consumers continue to feel the pinch of increased costs for energy. All major energy component indexes rose over the month, contributing to the yearly index increase.

Since January 2022, the index for utility piped gas has risen 26.7% and the index for oil has increased by 27.7%.

Utility piped gas saw the highest energy cost increase in January 2023, with a 6.7% increase. The cost increased 3.5% in December. Since January 2022, the utility piped gas index has increased by 26.7%.

Although gasoline costs decreased 7% in December, the index increased 2.4% in January.

Fuel oil costs decreased by 1.2% in January, following a 16.6% decrease in December. However, since January 2022 fuel oil costs have risen by 27.7%.

The electricity index increased slightly by 0.5%, following a 1.5% index increase in January. Over the past year, the index for electricity has increased by 11.9%.

Food Costs Rising

Food costs continue to rise. That’s likely leading to restaurants being forced to pass on the extra costs to their customers. And those higher prices are more likely to cause consumers to dine out less than normal, affecting restaurant owners nationwide.

The indexes for Food at Home and for Food Away from Home continue to rise, with the increase cost of Food at Home outpacing the Food Away from Home increases.

The index for Food at Home increased 0.4% in January. The index for food away from home increased 0.6%.

Over the past 12 months, the index for Food at Home has increased by 11.3%. Over the same time period, the index for Food Away from Home has increased by 8.2%.

This article, "Egg Prices Higher Again, Up 150% Over Last Year" was first published on Small Business Trends