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Inflation: Grocery prices increased 13.1% in July

Americans can still expect sticker shock when they head to their local grocery stories due to inflation.

Despite inflation cooling down a bit in July, up 8.5%, Americans are still paying significantly more for food.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' July Consumer Price Index (CPI), the cost of food rose 10.9% , with food in the at-home category rising 13.1%, higher than the year-over-year rise in recent months. For the overall food category, that's the highest increase since May of 1979, but for the food-at-home category, which is household groceries, it's the highest since March of 1979, according to Steve Reed, an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Compared to June of 2022, the grocery category increased 1.4%

On a 12-month basis, cereal and bakery products led the spike with an increase of 15% — with flour and prepared flour mixes up 22.7%. This leap was followed by the other food at-home categories including dairy and related products, up 14.9%, with milk specifically up 15.6%, which is only up 0.1 on monthly basis.

Meanwhile, the meats, poultry fish and eggs category, up 10.9%, saw a bit of relief where the cost of beef and veal decreased 0.1% and hot dogs dropped 6.0% compared to last month, but it was largely offset by eggs, up 38% compared to a year ago and 4.3% compared to June of 2022.

While the increase in price of eggs is stark for consumers, Reed told Yahoo Finance the increase in the price of eggs is "not unusual" and is a category that "has always been a volatile index even prior to the pandemic."

Nonalcoholic beverages also saw an increase of 2.0% compared to last month, in part due to higher costs in coffee, up 2.7% month-over-month, and carbonated drinks, up 2.3%.

Many of these higher prices were driven up by the cost of transportation, but some relief may be on the way. In the month of July, energy dropped 4.5% compared to June with gasoline specifically down 7.7%.

Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

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