Grocery Prices Surged by 13.5% in August

Americans’ visits to the grocery store will likely continue to be expensive as a new report the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ August Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicates that food prices continue climbing upward.

Per its most recent report, the overall cost of food increased by 11.4%. Similarly, the food-at-home category went up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis.

In the case of the overall food category, this represents the sharpest increase since May of 1979. However, for the food-at-home category, this is the largest increase since March 1979, per Steve Reed, a US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) economist.

From July to August, the grocery costs surged 0.7% month-over-month. According to a Yahoo Finance Report, cereal and bakery products were leading the way in boosting inflation with an increase of 16.4% on a 12-month timeframe. Flour and prepared flour mixes increased by 23.3%