Inflation peaking? 10 common consumer items where prices are falling
A customer shops for eggs in a Kroger grocery store on August 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
July’s consumer price index report finally showed a sign of potential relief – inflation ticked up less than expected from a year ago, and was flat on the month, meaning that a basket of items and services generally stayed the same price.
But some items have fallen, on a monthly and weekly basis, potentially signaling that inflation has passed its peak and may be cooling off.
This is welcome news to consumers who have been squeezed by higher prices and are looking for any sign of relief. Some of the top items whose prices have come down include eggs, milk and gasoline.
“Fuel inflation was really big and that’s going to have a pretty meaningful impact on consumers and their spending patterns,” said John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult. “I think that’s actually a good thing for the economy.”
Grocery aisle prices down
Many of the items that have declined are tied to food and energy, often the most volatile costs that consumers deal with.
Grocery store staples have dipped. Large white eggs cost, on average, $2.14 for a dozen, during the week of Aug. 15-21, according to the USDA. That’s a whopping 60 cent drop from the prior week, when the average was $2.74 per dozen.
The average price for a half gallon of milk has slipped to $1.95 from $2.05 during the period of Aug. 8-12, and the average price of butter fell to $3.67 from $4.68 in the same timeframe, per USDA data.
Chicken breast prices also slipped on a weekly basis during the period of Aug. 8-12, but other parts of the chicken are declining as well – chicken wing prices have been trending down and are now cost less than they did pre-pandemic, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Oil pulled down fuel prices
Outside of food, declines can be seen in consumer goods and services related to energy.
This is because oil prices are often subject to big price swings as the balance between supply and demand shifts. This year, the war between Russia and Ukraine threw that balance off and the price of oil spiked when countries stopped buying from Russia, a major exporter.
However, oil prices have come back down, lowering the cost of energy and particularly gasoline. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.918 as of Friday, according to AAA. While that’s higher than it was a year ago, it’s a solid decline from the $4.495 consumers were paying for gas a month ago, and a sharp drop from the recent high of $5.016 hit in June.
I think consumers increasingly believe that inflation is going to come down.
John Leer
chief economist at Morning Consult
That also potentially affected another area of the economy that saw a price dip month over month – airfares. The average price of a domestic airline ticket has dropped to $295 in August from $332 in July, according to travel site Hopper. That’s also back in-line with the average price for a domestic ticket in the same…
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