TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Thursday, May 16.
Related: Why are groceries so expensive? A look at post-pandemic food price inflation
Full Video Transcript Below:
CONWAY GITTENS: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Stocks are coming off a record session with all three major averages notching all-time highs Wednesday. Investor optimism was fueled by fresh data showing the first slowdown in consumer inflation in six months. Markets are now reacting to weekly jobless claims – 222,000 people filed for unemployment last week, down from the 8-month high of 231,000 the prior week.
In other news - Americans can finally breathe a small sigh of relief at the supermarket. According to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices dipped 0.2% from March to April. Despite only being a marginal decrease, that’s welcome news considering groceries have outpaced overall inflation since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Grocery prices are still higher than they were a year ago, but several individual food items have seen a sizable drop over the past 12 months. The price of apples plunged almost 13%, eggs decreased by 9%, and cheese fell more than 3%. On the flip side, consumers are paying more for hot dogs, ground beef, and steaks.
Do you feel like you've been paying less for groceries?
— TheStreet (@TheStreet) May 16, 2024
While cooking at home may have gotten a wee-bit cheaper last month, it’s still more costly to eat out. Prices at restaurants increased by 0.3% month-over-month. Since the start of 2024, prices at sit-down restaurants are up 3.4%, while prices at restaurants where you order at the counter are up almost 5%. McDonalds, which has said it’s struggling to draw in lower-income customers, announced it will offer a $5 value menu that will run for a month beginning June 25.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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