USA: Lower beef retail prices for consumers

The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) was released last week to a lot of headlines given the importance of the latest inflation numbers. Retail beef prices are included in the CPI and beef is one of the items that has been below a year ago and falling further. Two average retail beef prices are reported: Choice beef and the All Fresh beef. The Choice beef price is an average beef price of USDA Choice quality grade. The All Fresh includes fresh beef of any USDA grade. They both represent a number of different cuts. The Choice beef retail price was reported to be $7.42 per pound in October. That was 6.1 percent below the record high of $7.90 per pound in October 2021. The Choice beef price was below a year ago for the third consecutive month. The All Fresh average retail price was $7.25 per pound, about 4 percent below a year ago. Prices are typically compared to a year ago because many items exhibit a seasonal trend and beef is no exception. Summer grilling tends to boost ground ...