WASHINGTON — The average price paid for white pan bread fell while the price for whole wheat bread rose sharply in August, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The national average retail price of white pan bread was 147.4c, down 3.9c per lb from July but up 10.2c from August 2010. It was the sharpest month-over-month decline since the price fell 3.9c per lb in November 2007. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread in August rose in one region — up 0.7c in the Midwest — and fell in two regions — down 9.7c in the West and down 4.3c in the South.

At 197.4c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was up 12.4c per lb from July and up 29.3c per lb from August 2010. A month after recording its lowest average price since October 2010, the price for whole wheat bread was at its highest average price since January 2009.

The national average price of family flour in August was 53.7c per lb, up 0.4c from July and up 4.8c from August 2010. The price was up in two regions — up 0.8c in the Midwest and up 0.2c in the South — and unchanged in the West.

The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in August was 127.9c per lb, up 1c from July and up 16.1c from August 2010. Chocolate chip cookies were 315c per lb, down 19.6c from July and down 8c from August 2010. The national average price of white long-grain rice was 71.5c per lb, down 0.1c from July and down 2.8c from August 2010.