USDA Expects Food Prices To Move Up

For foods we buy at the grocery store this year, agriculture department analysts continue to say you can expect to dig deeper into your wallet.

"We expect to pay half to 1.5% more in 2018 than that we did in 2017."

It's the same basic forecast economist Annemarie Kuhns made a month ago, but even with an overall increase in grocery store food prices there are still several food categories with a decent chance of being lower than last year.
On that list: pork, fats and oils-- such as butter, fresh vegetables, processed fruits and vegetables, and non-alcoholic beverages. One new category added to the list this month is milk and dairy products.

"We're expecting that we could be paying .5% less to half a percent more."

Meanwhile, the prices increase list is a bit longer with several animal products on there, including beef, poultry, so-called "other meats" like lunch meats and such, fish and seafood, along with eggs.  But Kuhns admits we have retail food data for just the first five months of the year, meaning there are still seven months of unknowns.

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