The overall inflation rate in the USA has fallen, but the prices of food items hiked by 11% in the month of December as compared to in the last year. Every food item is now costlier in comparison to the last year. As per the latest numbers issued by the Labour Bureau, the rates of eggs have gone up by 138%, those of animal-fat and vegetable-oil butter, which is margarine, by 43.8%, those of butter by 38.5%, and those of pasta like spaghetti and macaroni, by 31.3%.
People have been the most affected by the price rise of eggs. A year ago, a dozen of eggs cost 1.78 dollars (146 Rupees), and now, their price has gone up to 4.25 dollars (350 Rupees). The price of eggs have increased because of the spread of bird flu. The spread of bird flu at this intensity is unprecedented in the USA. The rates of chicken meat have gone up by 11% as well, and the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon.
The rates of butter have skyrocketed as well, where half KG of butter is priced at 480 Rupees. The farmers are of the opinion that because of the economic crisis ensued by intense heat and the epidemic, this has happened because of the reduction in the number of cows. And a certain role has also been played by the increased rates of electricity, gas and manure.
A 25% increase has been recorded in the rates of fruits and vegetables during the last 12 months. The crops have been adversely affected by the lack of rainfall and the virus spread through the insects in California’s Salinas valley, wherein the highest production of vegetables in the USA takes place. Experts have opined that reasons like the increase in demand after the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the climatic disturbance, are responsible for the inflation. Due to the rise in prices, a lot of people have reduced the shopping of the items of basic necessity.
