WASHINGTON — The average price paid for white pan bread and whole wheat bread decreased in January, 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 136.5c, down 2c per lb from December and down 5.7c from January 2013. The decrease followed an increase of 2.4c per lb in December. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread in January fell in all four regions — down 3.4c in the Midwest and West, down 2.4c in Northeast and down 0.2c in the South.
At 207.3c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was down 0.3c per lb from December and down 0.5c per lb from January 2013.
The national average price of family flour in January was 54.3c per lb, up 3c from December and up 1.9c from January 2013.
The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in January was 129c per lb, up 2.7c from December and up 1.4c from January 2013. Chocolate chip cookies were 327.9c per lb, down 21.3c from December and down 44.9c from January 2013. The national average price of white long-grain rice was 73.1c per lb, down 0.4c from December but up 1.6c from January 2013.