Wednesday, July 12, 2023

The Daily Money: Inflation cools as gains in grocery prices slow

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The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Wed Jul 12 2023

Bailey Schulz | Money Reporter

@bailey_schulz

Happy Wednesday, Daily Money readers. It's Bailey Schulz here to bring you the day's top news on inflation, home insurance coverage and french fry freebies.

The Bureau of Labor Statistic's latest CPI report shows inflation cooled for a 12th straight month in June, with inflation down about two-thirds since its 40-year high of 9.1% one year ago. Core inflation, which the Fed watches more closely, eased more than expected.

While the drop is welcome news for consumers, bringing down inflation to 2% is expected to be a tougher slog.

Forecasters expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again this month after pausing in June, although a pullback in core price increases could prompt the Fed to hold rates steady for the rest of the year.

Picture of the Federal Reserve

Getty Images

Another property insurance carrier is pulling out of Florida

Farmers Insurance will stop writing new business and not renew its existing "Farmers-branded" automobile, home and umbrella policies in Florida, the company said Tuesday. It joins Bankers Insurance, Centauri Insurance and Lexington Insurance in withdrawing from the market since last year.

"This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure," the company said in a statement. The move will impact 30% of the company's business in Florida, or roughly 100,000 policies.

Floridians on average are paying about $6,000 for their yearly home insurance premium, an increase of 42% compared with last year, said Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. By comparison, the average annual premium in the U.S. costs $1,700.

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🍔 Today's Menu 🍔

Fast-food chains are gearing up to celebrate National French Fry Day on Thursday and Friday. (While the holiday falls on July 14 for the first time this year, some chains – including McDonald's and Smashburger – are opting to continue to offer deals on July 13.)

Deals include a free order of fries of any size this Friday for members of Burger King's Royal Perks loyalty program, free extra large Famous Seasoned Fries for rewards app members at Checkers & Rally's Friday through Sunday, and free McDonald's fries on Thursday at participating locations through the McDonald's App.

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.

Inflation eases for 12th straight month

There's nothing more American than a barbecue on the Fourth of July. This year, the bite that you take out of that juicy hamburger will be nothing compared to the bite that soaring prices - of items typically found at a cookout on the Fourth - will take out of your wallet. To identify the price of a summer cookout in 2022, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the report Cost of July 4th Cookout 17% Higher Compared to Year Ago from the A merican Farm Bureau Federation . We considered the current prices for 12 different foods commonly found at summer cookouts as well as their year-over-year price change, all from the AFBF report. The AFBF assumes an average cookout size of 10 people. Items are ordered by their annual change in price. Consumers will pay $69.68 for their favorite Independence Day cookout foods, a 17% increase from a year earlier, according to the AFBF marketbasket survey. The foods include cheeseburgers, homemade potato salad, and ice cream. The largest year-over-year price increase is for ground beef, according to the survey. The retail price for 2 pounds of ground beef is $11.12, up 36% from 2021. Other foods with a more than 30% price hike are: 3 pounds of center cut pork chops; 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts; and 32 ounces of pork and beans. (Here is the price of bacon and eggs the year you were born .) Vanilla ice cream, potato salad, and hamburger buns all posted double-digit increases from a year ago. The good news for Independence Day celebrants? The cost of strawberries and sliced cheese declined. The reasons behind the runaway cost of cookout items - beef, hamburger buns, potato salad, and lemonade, for example - is because of the well-chronicled issues of inflation, caused in part by supply chain disruption due to the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. ( The price of this household item is soaring .) Inflation rose 8.6% in May compared to May last year, according to the consumer price index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in early June. The increase was across the board, with the indexes for shelter, gasoline, and food the biggest contributors to price hikes.

The CPI report showed inflation fell to 3% as grocery price increases eased. Taking out gas and food, price gains eased more than expected but stayed elevated,

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