WASHINGTON — The average price paid for white pan bread rose 2.3c per lb in February, a month after falling 3.4c, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The price of whole wheat bread, meanwhile, fell 0.4c per lb in February after rising 2.6c per lb in January.

The national average retail price of white pan bread was 140.4c, according to the B.L.S. The February price for white pan bread increased 8.3c compared with February 2008. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread rose in three regions – up 5.8c in the South, up 0.8c in the Northeast and up 0.1c in the Midwest – and fell in one, easing 0.1c in the West.

At 197c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was up 8.6c per lb from February 2008.

The national average price of family flour in February was 50.9c per lb, down 0.8c from January but up 5.4c from February 2008.

The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in February was 113.3c per lb, up 0.2c from January and up 2.9c from February 2008. Chocolate chip cookies were 303.5c per lb, down 7.9c from January but up 35.3c from February 2008.