Consumer Food Prices - February

Bucking overall deflation, the index for fruits and vegetables climbs in February. From the Consumer Price Index report this morning:


The food and beverages index declined 0.1 percent in February after rising 0.1 percent in January. The food at home index, which declined 0.1 percent in January, fell 0.4 percent in February. Within food at home, the dairy and related products index fell 2.4 percent in February, with the milk index declining 5.7 percent. The milk index has declined 10.0 percent over the past year. The fruits and vegetables index was the only major grocery store food group to post an increase, rising 0.4 percent in February after declining in each of the past five months. The other four groups posted modest declines, from 0.1 percent for the meats, poultry, fish and eggs index to 0.5 percent for the cereals and bakery products index. Over the last year the food at home index has risen 4.8 percent. Among the major grocery store food groups, the cereals and bakery products index had the largest increase over the past year at 8.9 percent, while dairy and related products was the only index to decline, falling 1.7 percent. Among the other indexes within the food and beverages major group, the food away from home index rose 0.3 percent in February, while the index for alcoholic beverages declined 0.2 percent, the first decline since December 2005.