WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES Retail Prices of Food in the United States 1 HE following tables are compiled from monthly reports of actual selling prices received by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from retail dealers. Table 1 shows for the United States retail prices of food March 15, 1928, and February 15, and March 15, 1929, as well as the percentage changes in the year and in the month. For example, the retail price per pound of sugar was 7.1 cents on March 15, 1928; 6.6 cents on February 15, 1929; and 6.5 cents on March 15, 1929. These figures show decreases of 8 per cent in the year and 2 per cent in the month. The cost of various articles of food combined shows an increase of 1.1 per cent March 15, 1929, as compared with March 15, 1928, and a decrease of 0.9 per cent March 15, 1929, as compared with February 15, 1929. TABLE 1.-AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SPECIFIED FOOD ARTICLES AND PER CENT OF INCREASE OR DECREASE MARCH 15, 1929, COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 15, 1929, AND MARCH 15, 1928 [Percentage changes of five-tenths of 1 per cent and over are given in whole numbers] 1 In addition to monthly retail prices of food and coal, the bureau publishes the prices of gas and electricity from each of 51 cities for the dates for which these data are secured. TABLE 1.-AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SPECIFIED FOOD ARTICLES AND PER CENT OF INCREASE OR DECREASE MARCH 15, 1929, COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 15, 193. AND MARCH 15, 1928-Continued For Table 2 shows for the United States average retail prices of specified food articles on March 15, 1913, and on March 15, of each year from 1923 to 1929, together with percentage changes in March of each of these specified years, compared with March, 1913. example, the retail price per quart of fresh milk was 8.9 cents in March, 1913; 13.6 cents in March, 1923; 13.9 cents in March, 1924; 13.8 cents in March, 1925; 14 cents in March, 1926; 14.1 cents in March, 1927; 14.2 cents in March, 1928; and 14.3 cents in March, 1929. As compared with March, 1913, these figures show increases of 53 per cent in March, 1923; 56 per cent in March, 1924; 55 per cent in March, 1925; 57 per cent in March, 1926; 58 per cent in March, 1927; 60 per cent in March, 1928; 61 per cent in March, 1929. The cost of the various articles of food combined showed an increase of 57.8 per cent in March, 1929, as compared with March, 1913. TABLE 2.-AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SPECIFIED FOOD ARTICLES AND PER CENT OF INCREASE MARCH 15 OF CERTAIN SPECIFIED YEARS COMPARED WITH MARCH 15, 1929 [Percentage changes of five-tenths of 1 per cent and over are given in whole numbers] 1 Beginning with January, 1921, index numbers showing the trend in the retail cost of food have been composed of the articles shown in Tables 1 and 2, weighted according to the consumption of the average family. From January, 1913, to December, 1920, the index numbers included the following articles: Sirloin steak, round steak, rib roast, chuck roast, plate beef, pork chops, bacon, ham, lard, hens, flour, corn meal, eggs, butter, milk, bread, potatoes, sugar, cheese, rice, coffee, and tea. Table 3 shows the trend in the retail cost of three important groups of food commodities, viz, cereals, meats, and dairy products, by years, from 1913 to 1928, and by months for 1927, 1928, and 1929. articles within these groups are as follows: The Cereals: Bread, flour, corn meal, rice, rolled oats, corn flakes, wheat cereal, and macaroni. Meats: Sirloin steak, round steak, rib roast, chuck roast, plate beef, pork chops, bacon, ham, hens, and leg of lamb. Dairy products: Butter, cheese, fresh milk, and evaporated milk. TABLE 3.-INDEX NUMBERS OF RETAIL COST OF CEREALS, MEATS, AND DAIRY PRODUCTS FOR THE UNITED STATES, 1913 TO MARCH, 1929 Index Numbers of Retail Prices of Food in the United States IN TABLE 4 index numbers are given which show the changes in the retail prices of specified food articles, by years, for 1913 and 1920 to 1928,2 and by months for 1928 through March, 1929. These index numbers, or relative prices, are based on the year 1913 as 100 and are computed by dividing the average price of each commodity for each month and each year by the average price of that commodity for 1913. These figures must be used with caution. For example, the relative price of sirloin steak for the year 1928 was 188.2, which means that the average money price for the year 1928 was 88.2 per cent higher than the average money price for the year 1913. As compared with the relative price, 167.7 in 1927, the figures for 1928 show an increase of 20%1⁄2 points, but an increase of 12.2 per cent in the year. In the last column of Table 4 are given index numbers showing changes in the retail cost of all articles of food combined. Since January, 1921, these index numbers have been computed from the average prices of the articles of food shown in Tables 1 and 2, weighted 2 For index numbers of each month, January, 1913, to December, 1926, see Bulletin No. 396, pp. 44 to 61; Bulletin No. 418, pp. 38 to 51; and Bulletin No. 445, pp. 36 to 49. |