Inflation and Egg Prices Cool Down Despite Heated Rhetoric Against Trump's Policies

Even before Trump took office 20 January of this year, his critics were predicting - even cheering, for an economic crash. Today's government economic numbers threw cold water on their heated rhetoric. It's still extremely early and we haven't even got to the tax cuts yet. So, let's talk about inflation and eggs.

Consider the flash point of the cost of living - egg prices.

First, how did we get here?

Biden’s Handling of Avian Flu & Its Impact

• The Biden administration ordered the mass culling of millions of chickens in response to avian flu outbreaks.

• This policy failed to stop the spread of avian flu but severely reduced egg production, leading to a massive spike in egg prices.

Egg Prices & Trump's Agriculture Response

• Egg prices surged 15.2% from December to January due to avian flu.

• Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins launched a $1 billion initiative to boost chicken populations, improve biosecurity, and research poultry vaccines.

• Rollins: “This won’t erase the problem overnight, but we’re confident it will restore stability within 3-6 months.” (Forbes)
  

Egg Prices & Inflation Trends

• Wholesale egg prices have dropped by 15% as supply stabilizes. (FT)

• Inflation is rising slower than expected, despite initial concerns over tariffs and economic policies.

But what about inflation? Aren't Trump's tariffs spiking inflation?

Wholesale prices increased at a slower pace than analysts had predicted in February, according to fresh data released on Thursday. This development comes as investors worry that inflation could remain persistent while economic growth decelerates.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report revealed that the producer price index (PPI), which measures price fluctuations experienced by businesses, rose 3.2% compared to the previous year. This marks a decrease from January’s 3.5% increase and falls short of the 3.3% rise economists had anticipated. On a monthly basis, prices remained steady after climbing 0.6% in January.

When excluding food and energy costs, core prices saw a 3.4% annual increase, down from January’s 3.6%. This figure was also lower than the 3.5% rise economists had projected. Month-over-month, core prices declined by 0.1%, defying expectations of a 0.3% increase. In contrast, January saw a 0.5% uptick from the prior month.