Do groceries seem more expensive? April saw biggest jump in prices in nearly 50 years

Anyone who went grocery shopping last month likely felt a little more sticker shock than usual, and for good reason. Grocery prices jumped in April, the highest single-month increase the country has seen since 1974, according to the U.S. Consumer Price Index..

Americans paid 2.6% more at the store in April than in March, according to the index, which is released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price increases come as the coronavirus pandemic lingers across the United States, with many people still adhering to stay-at-home orders.

Many staples were among the food products with the most significant price increases. Meats, poultry, fish and eggs went up by 4.3%. Eggs alone shot up by 16%.

Cereal and baked goods costs increased by 2.9%, and non-alcoholic beverages did the same.

While groceries were more costly, prices fell for a host of other goods and services, according to the index.

Chief among those dropping in value was gasoline, which fell by 20%. Clothing, car insurance, airline fare, and lodging also took a dive.

These changes come in response to how Americans are now living in response to the pandemic, according to NPR.

“We saw an immediate, drastic decrease in expenditures away from home and an increase in the expenditures that we made at the grocery store,” said David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University told the outlet.

People aren’t driving to their favorite restaurants, they’re stocking up at the store and cooking at home.

Simply put, where there’s less demand, prices fall, where there’s more demand, prices increase, Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, told CNBC.

“Demand we know in most areas of the economy has collapsed and prices are falling in response,” he said. “In areas where demand has hung in, like ‘food at home’ we have inflation because the supply side has been damaged, whether directly via infected facilities or because of the higher costs of finding freight capacity.”