Food prices post their biggest increase in almost two years, while President-elect Donald Trump concedes it'd be 'very hard' to bring down grocery-store prices
Egg prices are soaring - and the worst might not be over.
The cost of a dozen eggs has jumped 35% since June, and prices could rise even higher in the next few months.
Eggs cost an average of $3.65 a dozen in November, up from $2.70 in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Good luck trying to get eggs at that price, however.
Most stores are suffering from a shortage of eggs, and prices often are much higher, especially for fancier versions such as cage-free or organic eggs.
In the Washington, D.C., area, for instance, prices for a dozen eggs range from $4.59 to $7.49. Most of the cheaper eggs are out of stock, though.
What's the problem? The blame belongs to yet another major outbreak of the highly transmissible bird flu.
When one chicken catches the disease, farms are required by law to destroy entire flocks - sometimes millions of chickens all at once.
The lack of eggs, in turn, is taking place just as the holiday season gets underway. Demand spikes during the holidays as people bake more and prepare more food in general.
The problem could persist for at least several months. Wholesale egg prices shot up 56% in November, and that could mean even higher prices in December and January.
The only solace for egg lovers is that egg prices are unlikely to match a record $4.82 a dozen set in early 2023.
It's not just the cost of eggs that's bothering Americans. The price of beef has also surged.
MarketWatch Live: Inflation heads in the wrong direction, CPI shows, but Fed is still on track to cut rates
Also read: Got a 'beef' with higher food prices? You sure do.
A pound of ground beef, for instance, hit a record high in September.
The combination of higher egg and beef prices drove up the cost of groceries in November by the biggest amount in almost two years.
President-elect Donald Trump, in his wide-ranging person-of-the-year interview with Time magazine, conceded that, despite campaign rhetoric promising lower prices for grocery items, the inflation rate might come down - as it has since mid-2022 - but prices themselves rarely retrace their gains.
"It's hard to bring things down once they're up," Trump told Time. "You know, it's very hard."
If prices do come down, that's deflation, and it ushers in a host of new problems.
Meanwhile, food costs jumped 3.1% in November at the wholesale level, the largest gain in two years.
The last time food prices rose this fast, eggs and the bird flu were also at the center.
-Jeffry Bartash
This content was created by MarketWatch, operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch, and published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-13-24 0003ET
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.