Price of milk, bread skyrocketing

[marmar]

from AP, via Comcast:



March consumer prices up despite big drop in clothing costs
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
2 HOURS AGO


WASHINGTON - Consumer prices pushed higher last month as increases in energy, food and airline tickets overwhelmed the biggest drop in clothing prices in nearly a decade.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in March after being unchanged in February.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, posted a 0.2 percent rise last month. Both the overall increase and the rise in core prices were in line with analysts' expectations.

Over the past 12 months, inflation is up by 4 percent, reflecting relentless gains in energy costs, which are up 17 percent over that period, and food prices, which are up 4.4 percent.

For individual food items, the gains are even more stark, with the price of bread up 14.7 percent over the past year and milk prices up 13.3 percent over the same period.

In other economic news, construction of new homes and apartments plunged in March to the lowest level in 17 years while industrial production posted a small rebound.

Housing construction dropped by 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000 units, the Commerce Department reported, a much bigger decline than economists had been forecasting. Building permits also fell in March, signaling more problems ahead for the beleaguered housing industry. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://absorigins.comcast.net/data/news/2008/04/16/938946.xml

[jody]

1. Why should voters be worried about the price of staple foods like milk & bread when they spend

billions on junk food that is unhealthy8?

[Missy Vixen]

2. Maybe we could shoot all the fat people

Right after that, we'd better get rid of all the junk food. It would make so many here so happy, wouldn't it?

:sarcasm:

I was at the store yesterday. I can't imagine how anyone with kids is feeding them these days. There's two of us, and we remain astonished at the rise in food prices. BTW, it's cheaper now for many people to eat fast food than it is to buy a five-dollar gallon of milk and a three-dollar loaf of bread.

Julie

[eShirl]

4. because their cheetos and hotpockets are going up in price too.

[CanonRay]

3. This can't be right...I saw that inflation was only 0.3% last month.

:sarcasm:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Clothing prices down?

How come I still only buy thrift store clothes?

Oh yeah--because most of them AREN'T junk made in China!

As for milk--even non-fat powdered is going up. Hope the farmer's market prices aren't through the roof when it opens for the season.