Why these 8 things have gotten much more expensive even as inflation cools
Inflation is cooling, but prices rose by more than 10% over the past year for eight expenses in the consumer price index.
Irina Marwan (left), filipefrazao (center), Natalia Gdovskaia (right), via Getty Images
- The consumer price index rose 3% year-over-year — it hasn't been below 3% since March 2021.
- However, eight expense categories had price increases of more than 10% over the last year.
- Weather events and changing markets have contributed to higher prices.
What do eggs, tickets to sporting events, and car insurance all have in common? Their prices have risen by more than 10% over the last year.
In June, the consumer price index rose 3% year-over-year, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics — it hasn't been below 3% since March 2021. The expense categories with the biggest year-over-year price declines included smartphones, used cars, and apples — each fell by over 10%.
But not all prices have eased over the past year. Eight expenses in the CPI index have seen price growth of over 10%: uncooked beef, admission to sporting events, motor vehicle insurance, frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks, video discs and other media, eggs, care of invalids and older people at home, and photographic equipment and supplies.
While these expenses collectively account for less than 5% of the CPI's total weighting, they've frustrated some Americans. And to the extent they've propped up inflation, they've also made a Federal Reserve interest rate cut less likely.
Since May 2022, when inflation reached 8.6% — the highest level since the 1980s — prices have gradually fallen. Slowing wage growth, the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes, and normalizing supply chains have all contributed to this. If inflation continues to cool, experts say the Federal Reserve will likely begin cutting the federal funds rate. This could lead to lower interest rates for credit card debt, car loans, and mortgages.
Here's why those eight expenses have risen considerably over the past year. While price growth could ease in the coming months for some of these categories, it could remain elevated for others.
The expenses are listed in descending order from largest to smallest increase in the rate of price growth between June 2023 and June 2024.
Grace Cary/Getty Images
The cost of frozen noncarbonate juices and drinks has risen 20.2% over the past year. Orange juice prices have played an outsized role in this.
David Branch, Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute's senior vice president and sector manager, told Newsweek in February that Florida's orange production last year was near its lowest levels since the 1930s. This was driven by diseases that affected production and weather events like hurricanes.
Additionally, Brazil, the world's biggest orange juice producer, has faced major production issues related to the climate crisis and citrus disease.
Orange juice prices could rise even further, Harry Campbell, a commodity market data analyst at research group Mintec, told CNBC in May.
"Until that point is reached where consumers are no longer willing to pay the premium for orange juice because it is at such low supply, prices will continue to drive up," he said.
Leslie Holm / 500px/Getty Images
Over the past year, the cost of motor vehicle insurance has risen by 19.5%.
In part, insurance companies have raised costs because they have seen more claims related to crashes, thefts, and the climate crisis, Laura Longero, executive editor of insurance at the marketing firm QuinStreet, told Business Insider in March.
"All of these work together to create a situation where car insurance is a lot more expensive," she said.
Additionally, a variety of factors, including supply chain shortages and wage increases, have pushed the cost of vehicle repairs higher.
"If you total your car, the replacement cost is really high and a fender bender is very expensive right now," Sean Tucker, senior editor at vehicle valuation and automotive research company Kelley Blue Book, told CNBC in April.
It's unclear when car insurance costs will ease.
Dale Porfilio, the chief insurance officer at the trade group the Insurance Information Institute, expects insurers to raise car insurance premiums by 13% this year, he told The New York Times in May.
sakchai vongsasiripat/Getty Images
Over the past year, the cost of video discs and other media has risen by 18.3%.
Among the factors driving the price spike is that some people still want to own their entertainment content through DVDs, for example — rather than rely on streaming services, which regularly change their content and subscription prices.
However, changing viewing habits have led some businesses to cut back on physical discs.
For example, in January, Best Buy announced that it would stop selling DVDs and Blu-ray discs this year. In April, Target announced it would be scaling back the amount of physical media it sold in stores.
More scarce supply with persistent demand could be contributing to higher prices.
Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
The cost of admission to sporting events rose by 15.1% over the past year.
Much of this rise can be attributed to a normalization in ticket prices after they plunged during the pandemic, Victor Matheson, a sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross, told Business Insider via email.
Despite the 15.1% year-over-year spike, ticket prices are only about 7% higher than they were in January 2019. That's because prices grew quickly — but from pandemic lows.
However, in the long run, sports ticket prices could grow faster than inflation.
Between January 1999 and June 2024, sports ticket prices in the US rose by about 133%. Overall inflation rose by about 90%.
Matheson said sports ticket prices have a "built-in inflationary bias" that has propelled them higher and higher.
"Basically there are roughly the same number of live games in the NFL, MLB, and NBA being played today in the US as there were 20 years ago," he said. "Thus, the number of tickets has stayed constant while the US population has grown by almost 50 million and income per capita has risen over 20%."
More people with more money to spend on roughly the same number of tickets is a recipe for higher prices.
Meanwhile, the cost of admission to movies, theaters, and concerts rose 3.1% over the past year.
10'000 Hours/Getty Images
Over the past year, the cost of care of invalids and older people at home rose by 11.4%.
Home healthcare staffing shortages and rising wages for these workers are two of the factors that have pushed up prices, Marc Cohen, co-director for the Leading Age Long Term Services and Supports Center at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, told The Hill in April.
These issues have impacted the broader eldercare industry. In 2023, nearly 80% of nursing homes reported staffing shortages.
Natalia Gdovskaia/Getty Images
The CPI category "uncooked other beef and veal" saw price growth of 10.5% between June 2023 and June 2024. Between May and June, it rose by 3%.
In large part, growing beef prices can be attributed to lower cattle supply. As of January 1, the estimated US cattle inventory was at its lowest level since 1951, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
"With drought and high input costs compelling farmers to market a higher-than-normal percentage of female cattle, the most recent cattle inventory dropped to lows not seen in decades," Bernt Nelson, an economist at the AFBF, wrote in February.
In February and March, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the biggest wildfire in Texas history, worsened the supply problem. Thousands of cattle were killed, and the wildfire could impact the industry for years.
Irina Marwan/Getty Images
Egg prices rose 10.2% over the past year, including 3.5% between May and June. An avian flu outbreak was among the biggest factors that pushed prices higher.
In April, nearly nine million chickens were infected with an avian flu, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Even once infections decline, it can take at least three months for egg production to recover, Andrew Stevens, an agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin, told CBS MoneyWatch in April.
While prices have risen over the past 12 months, eggs are still more affordable than they were early last year. For example, in January 2023, a dozen grade-A large eggs cost roughly $4.82, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of June 2024, they cost $2.72.
Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
The cost of photographic equipment and supplies has risen by 10.1% over the past year.
The photography news site PetaPixel has attributed rising camera prices in recent years to companies pivoting toward higher-cost, premium cameras. Given that many people have cameras on their smartphones, there is less demand for more basic camera models than there used to be.
Have you adjusted your spending habits to avoid high prices of certain goods or services? Are you willing to share your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.