Rising Prices

[jeffrey]

A sizzling steak slathered in butter, with sides of fries and broccoli costs a lot more now than a year ago. The beef itself is up 17.7 percent from last April and butter has fattened to $3.35 a pound, a whopping 31.4 percent increase. Small consolation that the price of potatoes has been flat and broccoli has actually dropped (big deal) 10.3 percent in price. Overall, prices grew a modest 0.2 percent from March to April, an annual rate of about two and a half percent.

Of the other prices of commodities and services that have outpaced that rate of inflation over the past year, gasoline stands out; a gallon of unleaded regular hit $1.83 in April, up 11 percent from one year ago. With petroleum reaching $41 a barrel in May, that situation will only worsen as we head into the summer travel season... [read more at money.cnn.com]