Inflation hit a 40-year high last year, and while inflation has slowed and even declined in recent months, consumers are still shelling out more than usual for their groceries.
Cheddar News correspondent Shannon LaNier visited a store in New Rochelle, New York, just north of New York City, to take a look at the price tags for common items, and found that one of the costlier sections of the grocery store these days is the dairy aisle.
"The price increases are coming every week, especially on eggs," said Jose Felipe, store manager of Rochelle Farms. He added that potato-based products are also seeing higher prices.
"French fries, for example, are in short supply and also very expensive," he said.
While the consumer price index declined 0.1 percent in December, food prices were up 0.3 percent month-over-month and 10.4 percent year-over-year. Eggs, meanwhile, saw some of the biggest gains in the whole index, rising nearly 60 percent year-over-year.
Producers have generally blamed the forced culling of millions of chickens in response to an avian flu outbreak. Others, however, say industry collusion is the biggest factor.
Farmer-led advocacy group Farm Action sent a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) "to promptly open an investigation into the egg industry, prosecute any violations of the antitrust laws it finds within, and ultimately, get the American people their money back.”
The group said the price increases were the result of a "collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40 percent."
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
