Grocery Store Prices Have Risen On Popular Items During Coronavirus

The prices on many grocery store staples jumped between March 2020 and April 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While some of these percentages may seem small, they can add up in the checkout line. Here are the average price changes on popular items in the U.S.

Creating perfect pasta dishes at home requires noodles. The average price of a pound of spaghetti or macaroni in the U.S. went from $1.24 in March to $1.26 in April 2020, an increase of 2.2% in a month.

If you're not interested in making your own sweet treats, the best store-bought cookies will do. Chocolate chip cookies were priced at an average of $3.43 in April of 2019, and are now $3.82, an increase of 11.7% in a year. There was a 5.3% increase between March and April 2020 alone.

There was a 2.3% increase in bread prices between March 2020 and April 2020. The jump year over year was a 9.4% increase with bread going from just over $1.28 in April 2019 to just over $1.40 in April 2020. Is that why people are making it at home? Or is that just to post to Instagram?

For those looking for a healthier choice, the cost of whole-wheat bread has also gone up year over year, from $1.95 in April 2019 to $2.07 in April 2020. That's a 6% increase. Between March 2020 and April 2020, there was a 3.8% price bump.

People are definitely cooking up ground hamburger — ideas for the meat were among the top-searched quarantine recipes on Google. There was a 5.7% increase in product price between March 2020 and April 2020, going from $4.10 to $4.34. A pound of ground chuck has seen an 11.2% price increase in a year, from $3.90 in April 2019 to $4.34 in April 2020.

Ground beef is good for more than just delicious burgers. You can also find it in some delicious casseroles. There was a 4.4% increase between March 2020 and April 2020, with the product going from $3.89 a pound to $4.05 a pound, and that's a continuing trend. Ground beef has seen a 7.3% increase in price in a year. It cost $3.77 a pound in 2019 and $4.05 a pound in April 2020.

There was a 5.2% price increase between March 2020 and April 2020 on steak. In April, the cut cost $6.41 per pound. In April 2019, you could get steak for $5.85 a pound, which makes the 2020 price a 9.5% increase. If you're thinking of going for a cheaper cut of meat, that's OK. There are plenty of ways to make cheap steak delicious.

A nice steak with a side can actually be a pretty simple weeknight dinner. The price of steak rose over $.30 per pound between March 2020 and April 2020 to $8.60. It was a 4.1% increase. This is, however, down from where it was a year ago at over $8.70 a pound.

Stew is a fantastic comfort food, and the price for a pound of beef for stew actually dropped a little between March and April 2020. It went from $5.73 to just over $5.69.

Bacon is an iconic breakfast food and a brunch-time essential. The price of a pound of sliced bacon is up 1.7% between March 2020 and April 2020, going from $5.25 to $5.34.

The price of pork chops is up over $.20 per pound. It saw a 7.6% increase between March 2020 and April 2020 to a cost of $3.67. Avoiding those price increases is easy with these vegetarian dishes.

Sometimes cooking a whole chicken makes sense because there are so many brilliant ways to use leftovers. But the price may be a reason to reconsider. The price of a whole chicken is up a whopping 12% between March 2020 and April 2020, going from $1.40 per pound in March to $1.57 in April.

The price of chicken breast is also on the rise. There was a 6.8% increase between March 2020 and April 2020, from $2.95 to $3.16.

There are plenty of ways to cook up eggs. A dozen eggs would have cost you an average of $1.52 in March 2020, but now they cost just over $2. That's an increase of 32.4% — a long way from what a dozen eggs cost the year you were born.

A gallon of whole milk bumped up less than 1% between March and April of 2020. The average cost went from just over $3.24 to just over $3.26. However, milk is up about 9.6% over last year, when the cost was $2.98. This makes milk precious, and to use up every last drop, here are recipes that use a lot of it.

American cheese jumped just under 2% per pound between March and April 2020. The average cost is now $3.98.

The average cost of a pound of cheddar cheese jumped 2.3% between March and April of 2020. The average cost in April 2020 was $5.45.

Sweets can be comforting, and many of you can't head to the best ice cream stand in your state right now. The frosty treat saw a 0.5% price increase between March and April 2020. The average cost is now $4.94.

Bananas saw a 0.9% increase between March 2020 and April 2020. In April 2020, bananas cost an average of $0.58 a pound.

Orange juice concentrate saw a 5.3% price increase between March and April 2020. The average cost in April 2020 was $2.39.

This salty snack may be a guilty pleasure, but it seems to be a must for quarantine life. There has been an over 5% price increase in potato chips between March 2020 and April 2020. Potato chips cost an average of $4.88 in April 2020.

Whether you're stress-baking up childhood favorites or complicated classics, all of it requires some sugar. There was a 3.1% price increase on sugar between March 2020 and April 2020. The cost is up over 8% from April 2019. The average cost of a pound of sugar in April 2020 was $0.64.

Cocktails in quarantine? It might make sense to go with wine instead. Wine prices actually dropped between March 2020 and April 2020. Though it dropped less than a percent, wine prices are currently at almost $12.30 a liter. Knowing where to expect to pay more is just one of the grocery store tips in the age of coronavirus.

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