SUPERMARKET FOOD PRICES JUMP IN JULY

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Supermarket food prices in July increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8% compared with June, the largest jump in more than a year and well above the 0.3% increase for all consumer goods, the Labor Department recently reported in its monthly consumer price index.

food prices last month increased 3.5%. The overall consumer price index showed a 2.8% rate of inflation compared with July 1993. So far this year, food prices are increasing at an annualized rate of 2.1%.

The Agriculture Department forecasts that supermarket prices in 1994 will increase between 2% and 4%. On a year-end basis, supermarket food prices last year increased 3.5%, compared with 1.5% for 1992.