Grocery prices fall for first time in a year

Grocery prices fell on the whole in April for the first time in 12 months, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.

Prices for food at home fell 0.2 percent in April, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index, the closely watched inflation gauge. It was the first time food-at-home prices fell since April 2023 and followed several months of plateauing.

After rising quickly for most of the past three years due to supply chain constraints and the impact of the Ukraine war, grocery prices are up just 1.1 percent over the past 12 months.

Grocery prices grew far slower than the overall annual inflation rate of 3.4 percent in April and even the Federal Reserve’s target for 2 percent annual inflation.

Americans still felt the squeeze in other sectors.

Housing and gas prices were the key drivers behind April’s rise in consumer prices, with the indexes for shelter and gasoline contributing more than 70 percent of the monthly increase.