US Inflation Easing? Prices for Fourth of July Celebrations Expected To Go Down Compared To Last Year

The Fourth of July is fast approaching, but the question is, will it be expensive? Financial experts say US inflation is now easing and that things might be better compared to last year.

The National Retail Federation expects around 87% of Americans to celebrate the US Independence Day this year, the most since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of those celebrating, 65% say that they will have a cookout, with consumers saying that they will spend an average of $93.34 on food per person for the holiday.

CBS News noted that the increase in food prices has slowed down since around this time last year. However, it was pointed out that hosting a cookout is still not cheap, especially with the Fourth of July fast approaching,

Grocery prices are still up by 5.8% compared to last year, but this was a significant easing of costs as there was a 12% increase around this same time last summer.

Cookout costs may vary as well. While sirloin steak is expected to cost $10.75 per pound, a 2.9% increase from last year, it is not as bad as the 14% increase that last year saw. As for burgers, the price of ground beef barely moved, as it only went up by less than a percent.

Chicken became cheaper by almost 2%. However, the most significant price decrease would be for eggs, which saw prices drop 7% from a year ago. This is attributed to farms recovering from bird flu.

The same cannot be said for wheat products, though, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bread is expected to cost 22% more than a year ago as flour prices go up due to the lack of imports from Ukraine. Other price increases include potato chips, dips, and condiments. However, the price of soft drinks is expected to slow down.

According to CNN, potato prices increased not because of inflation, but poor growing weather. It is expected to cost $3.44 for 2 ½ pounds of homemade potato salad.

Fuel Prices Going Down as Well

Food is not the only thing that is seeing prices go down but fuel as well. This is timely as it is projected that 50.7 million Americans plan to travel during the Fourth of July weekend. This means there will be 2.1 million more people traveling compared to around the same time this year.

Gas prices are now also lower than last year, as it is expected to go down by at least $1.30 compared to 2022. The national average estimate for the Fourth of July holiday is $3.49 per gallon.

Energy prices went down 3.6% on a monthly basis and were down 11.7% over the last 12 months.

US Inflation Hit 2-Year Low Last May

The Fed had been very aggressive in battling inflation, as its higher interest rates eased supply chain constraints and helped limit price increases for this year. This has kept core inflation from going up further, only increasing by 0.4% on a monthly basis as compared to last year, which saw a 5.3% increase.

Economic experts also believe that inflation is now on the mend, according to Forbes. This has also been good for Wall Street as the S&P 500 is up 12.6% year-to-date, and it has entered bull market territory in early June.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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