The Consumer Price Index for food fell 0.1% in April as the food-at-home index decreased 0.4% and the food-away-from-home index rose 0.4%, while the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after falling 0.1% in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 2.3% before seasonal adjustment.

The index for shelter rose 0.3% in April, accounting for more than half of the all-items monthly increase. The energy index also increased over the month, rising 0.7% as increases in the natural gas index and the electricity index more than offset a decline in the gasoline index.

FMI – The Food Industry Association Vice President of Tax, Trade, Sustainability and Policy Development Andy Harig stated, “Today’s CPI numbers should be welcome news for grocery shoppers, as food-at-home inflation significantly cooled for the month, driven by a 12.7% decrease in the price of eggs. Other important staples like fruits and vegetables fell 0.4% while cereal and bakery products declined 0.5%.”

Harig continued, “However, given the fluid situation around tariffs, it remains to be seen whether and how much these levies will impact food prices going forward. We remain optimistic that they will have a limited impact on food prices in the near term and a more stable food price environment will take hold as we head into the summer.”

FMI Vice President of Research and Insights Steve Markenson added, “The uncertain economic environment continues to be on the minds of consumers, although their concerns have eased somewhat since last month. FMI’s May Grocery Shopper Snapshot found that 38% of shoppers have positive expectations for the year ahead, a slight uptick from April. For 53% of consumers (down from 57% in April), the impact of tariffs on grocery prices remains their top concern. Today’s CPI numbers should help to continue easing these concerns.” 

Axios noted, “Inflation was cooler than expected as President Trump’s tariff policies took effect last month.”