TIME, August 2024
The annual inflation rate has cooled, new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Wednesday. The July consumer-price index shows an annual inflation rate of 2.9%, slightly below expectations and the smallest increase since March 2021. The slowing inflation rate may be a welcome change for American consumers feeling the pinch from fast-rising prices over the last few years— but experts say it’s unlikely to cause a drop in grocery store prices.
“If inflation goes down, it means that the rate at which prices increase is slowing down, but it generally is not going to mean that prices are going down,” says William Hauk, assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of South Carolina.
High inflation has led the U.S. to face a surge in consumer prices in recent years—in 2022, the U.S. saw one of the highest rates of inflation in 40 years. Grocery stores prices are now almost 25% more expensive than pre-pandemic levels, according to CPI data. The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with global conflicts like the war in Ukraine, caused major supply chain disruptions and higher prices. But in recent months, inflation has shown signs of cooling. In June, the rate of inflation fell 0.1%, marking the lowest monthly growth rate since May 2020 and a two-thirds decrease from June 2022.
