MINNEAPOLIS — Inflation has now hit a 40-year high.
That's according to the latest Consumer Price Index released Friday morning.
Mark Bergen, a University of Minnesota marketing and pricing professor, says the one-year inflation rate has now hit 8.6% the highest rate since 1981.
"It's happening in all the categories,” Bergen says.
"The big sectors were the ones we've been seeing, energy, food and shelter."
The latest numbers show the food at home index rose 11.9% over the last 12 months.
In May alone, dairy went up 2.9% last month, grains and bakery products up 1.5%, meat went up 1.1% and eggs went up 5% in just one month.
Bergen says this inflation is driven by the high gas prices, supply chain issues, the fact that many countries are still dealing with COVID, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has had a big impact on grain production in that part of Europe.
"That's the bread basket of Europe and it's a global food network we live in now,” Bergen says.
The worldwide supply has gone down for many products, but people still need to eat, so the demand hasn't changed.
Bergen says shoppers can still save money by changing their eating habits.
Some categories like fruits and vegetables are seeing smaller increases, around 0.6% last month.
"Instead of ‘what do I want to eat this week,’ it's ‘I'm going to go and look at what has gone up in price’ and then I'm going to adjust and do my meal planning and shopping around that.”
Even though these price increases are so wide spread, Bergen says shoppers can still save money by shopping around and buying in bulk when you see a good deal.
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