Grocery prices rose 2.9 percent in April according to Labor Department data

A social media post on Wednesday listed falling prices for nine grocery items including avocados, fresh berries, cheese, butter, olive oil, chicken breasts, and eggs. The post cited data from Circana as published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Neither Circana nor the USDA responded to requests for comment by press time.

April inflation data Labor Department figures released two weeks earlier showed grocery prices rose 2.9 percent in April from the same month a year earlier. That increase was the largest in two and a half years and exceeded the pre-pandemic annual average of 1.1 percent.

The same data indicated consumers paid 6.5 percent more for fresh fruit and vegetables and 8.8 percent more for meat than in April 2025.

Statistics records show cheese prices fell 3.1 percent and egg prices fell 39 percent over the past year. Chicken breast prices averaged $4.17 per pound in April, up from $3.97 at the start of the year. Tomato prices increased 40 percent after a 17 percent duty was imposed on imports from Mexico in July 2025.

Beef prices rose 15 percent year-over-year amid dry weather in the Western U.S. Coffee prices increased 18.5 percent, partly due to drought conditions affecting global production.