Inflation rose at 0.1 percent in August, against the market’s expectation of a 0.1 percent drop. For the year, inflation is up 8.3 percent since August 2021, which is a slight decline from the June record of 9.3 percent and the July 8.5 percent.
Food inflation was up 0.8 percent on the month – the eighth consecutive monthly increase. On a year-over-year basis, food was up 11.4 percent, the largest 12-month increase since May of 1979. Food at home was up 13.5 percent year-over-year, while food away from home was up 8 percent.
Fats and oils and sugars and sweets lead the increases in the food at home category; meats and poultry decreased from previous highs.
In the protein category, there wer...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
