WASHINGTON — The average price paid for white pan bread and whole wheat bread finished higher in February, 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 144.2c, up 1.9c per lb from January and up 4.4c from February 2011. The gain followed an increase of 0.3c per lb in January. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread in February rose in three regions — up 5.9c in the Midwest, up 2.8c in the West and up 0.5c in the South — and fell in one region — down 1.8c per lb in the Northeast.

At 204.4c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was up 6c per lb from January and up 18c per lb from February 2011.

The national average price of family flour in February was 52.8c per lb, unchanged from January and up 3.4c from February 2011.

The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in February was 131.1c per lb, down 0.6c from January but up 19.5c from February 2011. Chocolate chip cookies were 377.8c per lb, up 13.8c from January and up 65.5c from February 2011. The national average price of white long-grain rice was 71.8c per lb, down 2.1c from January and down 2.9c from February 2011.