Grocery Store Staples Rise In Cost The Most In 46 Years

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the production of many products has slowed.
In addition, the demand for these same products has increased.
This has led to rising prices.

Prices on certain grocery items have made the largest one-month increase since 1974. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many consumers are heading to stock up on groceries. This is leading to increased demand and decreased production. In addition, many companies are slowing down production to try to keep employees safe.

Reports say, “that prices U.S. consumers paid for groceries jumped 2.6% in April, the largest one-month pop since February 1974. The price of the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs category rose 4.3%, fruits and vegetables climbed 1.5%, and cereals and bakery products advanced 2.9%.”

The cost of things like meat and eggs have risen due to coronavirus

meat at the grocery store — Meat / Flickr

Many of us have seen this first hand. When you head to the grocery store, many shelves are empty. Prices have risen on products that you use often. This is especially hard when so many people have been laid off due to the coronavirus shutdowns.

grocery store aisle aldi — Grocery store aisle / Flickr

Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group said, “Food price gains were robust as we know there are empty shelves out there. Demand we know in most areas of the economy has collapsed and prices are falling in response.”

He continued, “In areas where demand has hung in, like ‘food at home’ we have inflation because the supply side has been damaged, whether directly via infected facilities or because of the higher costs of finding freight capacity.”