Dive Brief:

• Food-at-home prices increased in March at a 1.2% annual rate — up slightly from the level seen in February — according to Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The food-at-home index was unchanged last month compared with February.
• Overall inflation moved up at an unexpectedly quick pace in March, up month over month and reaching a 3.5% annual level.

Dive Insight:

The latest statistics from the BLS are a stark reminder that while the galloping price increases that gripped the U.S. in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic may have subsided, grocery inflation remains a sore point for the economy.

The increase in grocery inflation last month reversed a continuous decline in the metric dating back to September 2022, when inflation finally began slowing after hitting a four-decade high.

The Biden administration — which has promised to take steps to reduce prices for consumers — responded swiftly to the unwelcome news that inflation gained steam. In a Wednesday statement, President Joe Biden said dealing with inflation “remains my top economic priority” and suggested that grocers could do more to provide relief to shoppers.

“Prices are still too high for housing and groceries, even as prices for key household items like milk and eggs are lower than a year ago. I have a plan to lower costs for housing — by building and renovating more than 2 million homes — and I’m calling on corporations including grocery retailers to use record profits to reduce prices,” Biden said.

Grocery inflation moved up in March even as restaurant prices continued to show signs of easing. The BLS’ food-away-from-home index recorded a 4.5% annual clip in March, compared to 4.2% reported in February.

While annual grocery inflation was higher across the board in March than the level seen in February, none of the key food categories the federal government tracks rose month to month by more than 1%.

Prices in the group that includes meats, poultry, fish and eggs rose in March at a monthly rate of just under 1%. Looked at on their own, egg prices moved up 4.6% month to month — down from 5.8% in February.

Fruit and vegetable prices were up by a tenth of a percentage point, while prices for cereals and bakery products were down by just under 1%.