Source: Livestock Marketing Information Center
November Consumer Price Index (CPI) was released last week which was 7.1% above a year ago, a slight cooling of inflation from the prior month’s 7.7%, but still well above the target of 2%. The meats CPI data was up 1.1% from the previous year, a much slower rate compared to the double-digit rates that were seen at the beginning of the year. Poultry CPI continues to track well above last year at 13.1%, a continuation of strong double-digit growth in poultry. In fact, January was the only month that did not see double digit growth (9.8%). The uncertainty surrounding Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza will likely influence poultry prices in the near term.
Retail beef prices for November were down modestly from the prior month and last year. The all-fresh retail beef price was $7.15 per pound, down 1.4% from a month earlier and 5.0% below last year. Choice retail beef price was $7.37 per pound, down less than one percent (0.8%) from October and 6.2% lower than 2021. Ground beef was up 2.9% from a year ago to $4.85 per pound and it was the only category above a year ago. The chuck, roast, round, and steaks were all down about 3% to 11% from the same month last year. The chuck was 6.7% lower from a year ago to $6.78 per pound, the roast fell 5.9% to $6.05, rounds were down 3.3% to $7.16, and steaks were $10.26 down 10.8%.
Pork retail prices marked its first month over month decline this year falling 2.0% to $4.95 per pound. Compared to a year ago, retail pork prices are still above a year ago by 2.5%, which is due to higher prices for most report prices. All pork chops were reported up 2.2% from last year to $4.16 per pound in November, bone-in chops were $4.57 per pound (up 5.0%) and boneless chops were $4.49 (up 1.3%). Hams jumped 11.8% from a year ago to $5.52 per pound, the second highest price on record, while bacon posted a marginal decline of 0.3% to $7.24.
Poultry prices moved slightly lower in November compared to the prior month. The retail chicken price (whole fresh) was $1.84 per pound, down 1.1% from October but 16.4% above the month last year. The broiler composite retail price fell less than one percent from the prior month (0.6%) to $2.52 per pound but rose 14.1% from a year ago. November prices for bone-in legs rose 16.8% from a year ago to $2.02 per pound, which was a record, while boneless chicken breast rose 22.2% to $4.42. Eggs reached a new record price of $3.59 per dozen, more than double what prices were a year ago.
