Tag Archives: Consumer Price Index

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U.S. beef prices reach record highs as cattle industry struggles to keep costs down

Fort Worth, Texas — The dinner shopping list for Darlowe Torkelson and his wife was short. At today’s prices, it consisted of just one sirloin steak and one potato. 

Torkelson of Argyle, Texas, told CBS News his family doesn’t yet know the upper limit of what they are willing to pay for certain groceries.

“I haven’t found it, I’d like to see it back down,” Torkelson said.

The average cost of one pound of ground beef reached a record-high of $5.80 in April, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is up nearly 50% from five years ago. 

“We are very, very conscious of how high the prices are in the meat case,” said rancher Stephen Kirkland, owner of the Z Bar Cattle Company.

Kirkland said he has been trying to absorb the price increases at the two butcher shops he owns near Fort Worth, Texas.

Kirkland says that a year ago, he could buy cattle for about $1,500 per steer. Now, he says the price has risen to nearly $2,400.

“$2,400 for one steer going into the feed yard, and then feed and everything else, transportation, everything else that gets involved in that,” Kirkland said of the cost.

Raising those steers also comes at a higher cost, with prices going up for feed, land and financing.

Those cost increases have contributed to U.S. cattle herds falling to their lowest numbers in more than 70 years, according to USDA data.

“We’ve had a lot of drought the past couple of years, and so it’s been harder and harder to keep enough grass to feed the cows,” said rancher Kim Radaker Bays, who raises Herefords and Texas Longhorns at Twin Canyons Ranch south of Fort Worth.

She has to weigh the cost to keep the herd fed and healthy against the price they will command at market.

She says that if a cow is non-pregnant, or “open” — meaning it’s not carrying a calf and growing the herd — it’s a better financial decision at today’s prices for Bays to sell it. 

“It just costs too much to feed them if you don’t get a calf every year,” Bays explains.

With supplies tightening, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that beef prices will rise throughout 2025.

Kirkland says he won’t speculate on when the price of beef will be too high for consumers.

“But as cattle prices increase, we’re left with no other choice,” Kirkland said. “If we want to stay profitable, we want to stay in business at all, you’ve got to go up on your price.”

Jason Allen

Jason Allen is a CBS News correspondent based in Dallas/Fort Worth. He was previously a reporter with CBS News Texas.

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Consumer confidence falls to lowest level in 3 years amid inflation fears, U. of Michigan index shows

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. edged down in May for a fifth straight month as Americans increasingly worry that President Trump’s trade war will worsen inflation.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, declined 2.7% on a monthly basis to 50.8, the lowest reading since July 2022. Since January, sentiment has tumbled nearly 30%, a sign Americans are worried about the economy and their financial prospects, according to economists. 

“These survey results suggest that consumer spending may be increasingly restrained by caution under the Trump economic agenda,” Carl B. Weinberg, chief economist at investor advisory firm High Frequency Economics, said in a research note.

Weinberg added that the decline in confidence may cause Americans to hold back on purchasing big-ticket items until they have a clearer picture of what’s happening in the economy. “Uncertainty usually foments a feeling in households that more saving is a good idea,” he added.

Less grim than it looks?

Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist with Pantheon Macroeconomics, noted that the U. of Michigan’s initial survey likely failed to capture any improvement in sentiment from the U.S. and China agreeing to ease tariffs earlier this week. 

“[W]e increasingly suspect that the consumer surveys, and the Michigan survey in particular, are painting an unduly negative picture of the consumer outlook at present,” Allen said in a report. “Headline retail sales eked out a further small gain in April, following a 1.7% jump in March, despite the recent plunge in confidence. Moreover, most near-real indicators of consumers’ discretionary spending on services are holding up well.”

Trump in April slapped 145% tariffs on all imports from China, a move that effectively froze trade with the U.S.’ third-largest trading partner in goods. But on Monday, the two countries said they agreed to lower U.S. tariffs to 30%, while China would cut its duties on U.S. exports to 10% from 125%. 

Separately, the U.S. earlier this month reached a trade deal with the United Kingdom, although trade experts said the agreement suggests high tariffs are set to remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Mr. Trump on Friday said his administration will send letters that inform other nations of the tariff rates the U.S. will impose on imports.

“[W]e have, at the same time, 150 countries that want to make a deal, but you’re not able to see that many countries,” Mr. Trump said during a Friday business roundtable between the U.S. and United Arab Emirates. 

Americans have largely taken a sour view about where the economy is headed in the wake of the Trump administration’s imposition of huge import duties, which threaten to slow growth and push up prices. In recent weeks, the White House has pulled back on its most draconian policies, though average duties are still high by historical standards. 

In an April CBS News poll, 44% of Americans approved of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 51% on March 2.

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Kroger overcharges customers for items marked as being on sale, Consumer Reports finds

Kroger shoppers might be paying more at checkout than they bargained for.

A new investigation found price tag errors at the supermarket giant’s stores leading to customers being overcharged on many items marked as discounted or on sale. Expired discount tags were found on everyday products ranging from Cheerios cereal to Nescafé instant coffee, according to an investigation by Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN).

The probe stems from allegations made by Kroger employees in Colorado who are currently in labor negotiations with the supermarket chain.

“People should pay the price that is being advertised, that’s the law,” Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, who runs the Consumer World website, told Consumer Reports. “The issue here is that shoppers can’t rely on the shelf price being accurate, and that’s a big problem.”

Kroger operates roughly 2,700 stores throughout the U.S., according to the company’s website, and owns a suite of supermarkets that includes Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s and Ralphs.

To conduct the investigation, Consumer Reports, The Guardian and FERN recruited people to shop at more than two dozen Kroger and Kroger-owned stores in 14 states and the District of Columbia over a roughly three-month period this year. 

The investigation found that expired sales labels led to overcharges on more than 150 grocery items, with an average overcharge of $1.70 per item, or 18.4%. For instance, a bag of Mission Flour Tortillas at a Harris Teeter in Alexandria, Virginia, was advertised as on sale for $2.99, while customers were charged $4.99. 

Although pricing mistakes were not found at all the Kroger stores in the investigation, the probe found issues at over half of the 26 locations it examined.  

Kroger took issue with the findings, saying the investigation greatly overstates the pricing issues. 

The “characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false,” a Kroger spokesperson said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch, adding that the errors cited by the investigators represented only a “few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually.”

Although Consumer Price Index data shows the rate of inflation and grocery prices eased last month, Americans continue to face higher costs for household goods.

“Even if the incidents are careless rather than calculated, it creates a perception that Kroger is ripping people off,” said Neil Saunders, an analyst with retail industry research firm GlobalData in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. “That’s not what any grocery retailer wants or needs when the consumer is looking to maximize value for money.”

Kroger not alone in overcharging claims

The overcharging problem is not unique to Kroger: Retailers like Walmart, Safeway, Albertsons and Vons have been hit with similar allegations. 

Grocery giant Albertsons in October agreed to pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the California chain of selling items for more than their lowest advertised price. 

But the Kroger case stand out for several reasons said Derek Kravitz, an investigative journalist and author of the Consumer Reports story. One is that in states in the Midwest and the South, where the retailer has a strong foothold, Kroger is often one of just a few places to choose from for grocery shopping. 

Kravitz also pointed to the persistent flow of complaints from Kroger customers over out-of-date sales prices, dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ohio, for example, the attorney general’s office has received nearly 60 complaints of price tag and overcharge issues at Kroger since 2021.

“Almost every single time I go in the store, the listed price of an item is NOT what rings up at the register,” Belpre resident Allison Hadfield noted in one of three complaints she and her husband, Derek, filed against their local Kroger store, according to Consumer Reports. 

In addition to individual complaints, customers have also filed multiple class-action lawsuits alleging pricing errors at Kroger locations, with cases ongoing in California, Ohio and Illinois, according to The Guardian.

Kroger said it has taken steps to fix price discrepancies. That includes instituting a policy that gives employees the authority to fix price problems on the spot.

“Kroger is committed to affordable and accurate pricing, and we conduct robust price check processes that reviews millions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate,” a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.

Potential staffing issues

Between 2019 and 2024, the average number of employees at the Kroger-owned stores that the researchers focused on in their investigation fell by 10.3%, or 17 employees per store, according to the report, which cites data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The average number of hours worked also fell by 2.7 hours per week. 

“There are simply not enough employees to manually switch out price labels on shelves because some stores have tens of thousands of price tags hanging at any one time,” Kravitz wrote in the report. 

Kroger denies there is a problem with understaffing. In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, the Kroger spokesperson said work hours and staffing at its stores have not been reduced.

“We intentionally staff our stores to keep them running smoothly while creating an enjoyable place to shop,” the spokesperson said. “Our staffing decisions are data-driven to balance workload and schedules.”

The investigation on overcharging comesas the grocery giant reports record sales and profits. Kroger reported $3.8 billion in operating profit last year, according to a March earnings report.

Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

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CBS News price tracker shows how much food, gas, utility and housing costs are rising

Prices may still rise despite tariff reversal



Despite tariff reversal, some prices could still increase. Here’s why.

01:53

As consumers cope with lingering cost-of-living pressures and the potential impact of tariffs, CBS News is tracking the change in prices of everyday household expenses — from food to utilities and rent.

Drawing from a range of government and private data, the tracking charts below show how the cost of goods and services have changed since from before the pandemic to the most recent information available. That’s through the end of April for most items.

The price tracker is based on data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for food, household goods and services and Zillow for rent and home-purchase prices. Every chart notes, and links to, the source of the original data.

In the case of recurring household costs, rents and home sales, the 2025 data cited is current through last month and it is compared to the same month in prior years dating back to 2019. You can choose an item below to see the year by year change or search for all items in the table below the chart.

John Kelly


John Kelly is an investigative journalist and the vice president of Data Journalism for CBS News and Stations.

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Inflation rose by 2.3% in April, CPI report shows. Here’s what the data means.

The Consumer Price Index in April rose 2.3% on an annual basis, signaling that price hikes remain above the Federal Reserve’s goal of bringing down inflation to a 2% rate.

By the numbers

The CPI was forecast to rise 2.4% last month, according to economists polled by financial data firm FactSet. The CPI, a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers, tracks the change in those prices over time. 

What experts say

Economists are looking for early signs that Mr. Trump’s tariffs are trickling through to American households. Because tariffs are import taxes paid by U.S. companies, which largely pass on the added costs to shoppers, they are at some point expected to boost consumer prices.

Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is taking a wait-and-see approach on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, which he said could boost inflation and blunt economic growth. But so far, the tariff impact hasn’t shown up in economic data, which typically is backward-looking because it reflects activity from the previous month.

Mr. Trump has also announced tariffs, such as his April 2 “Liberation Day” levies, and then backed off from them. On April 9, he hit the pause button with a 90-day delay, scaling back the tariffs to a 10% rate. 

And on Monday, the Trump administration and China agreed to a temporary but significant easing of tariffs imposed over the last couple months, scaling back the import duties on Chinese-made goods from 145% to 30%.

Meanwhile, some consumers and businesses rushed to order goods ahead of the tariffs’ imposition, aiming to skirt the new import duties by front-loading their purchases. Because of this, the impact of the tariffs might not show up in economic data for another few months, economists say.

“[I]n reality, the data for April is likely to be largely unaffected by President Trump’s announcements on Liberation Day,” said Julien Lafargue, chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank, in an email. “This is because exemptions were granted for goods that had left exporting countries before 2 April, and because consumers and businesses rushed to front-run tariffs in February and March.”

He added, “As such, both the Fed and global investors will still need to be a bit more patient before they can properly assess the impact of the trade uncertainty on consumer prices.”

Aimee Picchi

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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