Egg prices jump higher in September on continued bird flu worries

Egg prices continued to rise in September, marking their biggest year-over-year increase in 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday.

The price for a dozen eggs last month rose to almost $2.97, up 3 cents from August and a 50.6 percent jump over the prices in September 2014. Prices made a record one-month jump of almost 32 percent in June, $2.57 a dozen, when worries surrounding bird flu peaked. They’ve risen 15 percent since then, and 52 percent since the 2015 low of $1.96 a dozen in May.

This year has seen the biggest ever outbreak of avian influenza. Bird flu outbreaks over 15 states have already led to the killing of almost 50 million U.S. poultry birds, according to the USDA. The outbreak appears to be under control, but the USDA said Wednesday that it’s stockpiling “several hundred million” doses of bird flu vaccine to prepare for a resurgence.

The consumer price index for food increased 0.4 percent in September, its largest increase since May of last year. The consumer price index for the 12 months ending in September was virtually unchanged from August, as a steep decline in energy prices offset the increase in food and a catchall category that includes everything from cars to clothing and medical care.