Grocery store food prices jumped by 3.5 percent at the beginning of the year. That’s nearly double the 2 percent pace we normally see year over year.
Many analysts thought prices would retreat after the major COVID disruptions subsided, but instead, they have continued to rise.
A USDA spokesperson says that trend may not be over.
“We do think this pattern of food price increases is going to continue... people are talking a lot about how it’s possible. This might become a new normal after a lot of supply chain disruptions that have happened in the last year and a half, and some of these increases are pretty large in magnitude,” according to Carolyn Chelius.
Those large increases include pork, which could jump another 7 percent after the 6 percent jump last year. Economists say that this could be “in place” for at least the next six months to a year.
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