NYC Grocery Prices See Largest Increase Since 1987: Statistics

NEW YORK CITY — The spike in New York's grocery prices over the past year is the largest it has seen since 1987, according to national report on inflation.

The cost of food-prepped-at-home increased by 9 percent between February 2021 and 2022, with the price of meats, eggs, fish and chicken in New York City (as well as Jersey City and Newark) skyrocketing by 17 percent, according to a report Thursday from the Labor Department.

The 9 percent uptick constitutes the largest over-the-year increase since June 1987, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Dining-out costs increased by 6.5 percent, and actually dropped half a point last month, the Labor Department reported.

Inflation also increased energy prices by 15.7 percent with a 38-percent jump in the cost of gas, the Labor Department reported.

The government report does not reflect gas price inflation spurred by the U.S. ban on Russian oil imports in response to the war in Ukraine.

The city saw the consumer price index — based on cost-of-living expenses such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care — advanced 5.1 percent between February 2021 and 2022, the study shows.

That's about 3 points less than the nation's 7.9 percent rate of inflation, the sharpest spike since 1982.

Nationwide, energy costs increased more than 25 percent over the past 12-months with motor fuels prices showing the largest increase at 38 percent. Natural gas costs increased almost 24 percent.

Eric Winograd, a senior economist at asset manager AllianceBernstein, told the AP that inflation could reach 9 percent this month or next.

Some of that inflation will likely be driven by the war in Ukraine.

Prices for wheat, corn, cooking oils and metals — commodities which the two countries lead the world in exporting — have soared in recent weeks.

Rents also surged — in New York City and on the national level — at the fastest rate in decades, largely due to steady job growth and surging real estate prices, according to The AP analysis.

The Federal Reserve plans fight inflation by increasing interest rates several times in 2022, beginning with a quarter-point hike next week.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.