Evening star., 1920-02-23
CENT Jump
| IN FOOD IN 50 DAYS
D. c. Compared With Other
Cities in Labor Depart
ment Statistics.

| announced last night.
! Washington was one of forty-on,
| cities in which the family budge
for food increased in the month
period designated. according to the
! bureaus survey. which included re.
| tail prices for twenty-five food ar.
ticles In nine citiec. Atlanta. Birm.
ingham. Cleveland. Denver Kansa:
| City. Omaha. Portland. Nc. Memphi.
| and Mobile. there were slight de.
creases in the family food budget
| the two last named cities showing d
| : per cent average decrease in the
family expenditure for food.
Other Increases shown.
Food prices in Minneapolis showed
the greatest increase in the year
period from January. 1919, to Janu-
AIRY. 1920. increasing Is per cent il
that time. Other cities showed in
creases ranging from l per cent ir
baltimore to 10 per cent in cincin-
| natl Fall River. Omaha. Peoria, st
Louis and st. Paul Food price in
crease was los per cent in the seven
year period. 1913 to 1929. the bureau
announced. The largest increases in
/ the seven-year period were in De-
trot and st. Louis. food prices in
these cities increasing Ill per cent
each
General Increase In L. =.
The average family expenditure for
food in the United States as whole
was per cent higher on January
Is. 1920. than on December l.. 1919.
The cost in December was 26 per
cent higher than it had been in any
previous month. These figures show
an increase of 9 per cent since Janu-
ary. 1919, and>an increase of 104 per
cent for the nation since January.
1913.
since January. 1919. monthly re-
tail prices of food have been secured
for forty-four food articles" the bu-
reau's statement said.~
Food Articles Specified.
During the month from December
Is. 1919, to January Is. 1920. twenty
nine of the forty-four articles of food
for which prices were secured in 1913
increased as follows: Cabbage, 33 per
cent: potatoes. IS per cent: granu-
per cent; lamb and rolled oats, per
cent each: hens. per cent: plate
beef. per cent; -four. per cent;
sirloin steak, rib roast, chuck roast
bread and cream of wheat. per cent
each: round steak and raisins. 8 per
cent each: canned salmon and rice,
2 per cent each; ham. evaporated
milk. macaroni baked beans. tea, cof-
fee and bananas. 1 per cent each. Ba-
con. nut margarine. cheese and crisco
each increased less than five-tenths
Of 1 per cent.
The eleven articles which de-
creased in price were: Strictly fresh
eggs, 8 per cent; butter. 8 per cent:
lard and canned tomatoes. 3 per cent;
each: pork chops. storage eggs and
canned corn, canned peas and prunes
per cent each"
"Prices remain unchanged for oleo-
margarine. corn meal, condakes and
navy beans.
During the year period, January
1919, to January. 1920. e5 of the AZ
articles for which prices were Sc
cured on both dates increased as fol-
lows: Onions. 120 per cent; cabbage
80 per cent; potatoes. So per cent
So per cent; prunes. At per cent; cof-
fee. Al per cent; rice, 81 per cent
flour. % per cent: canned salmon. II
per cent. crisco, 13 per cent; cream OF
wheat and bananas. I per cent each
oleomargine and strictly fresh esss
fresh milk and corn meal. per cent
each; hens and butter, 5 per cen,
each: evaporated milk and storage
eggs. 1 per cent each; lard, per cent
and lamb and tea, l per cent each
Articles which decreased in price
per cent; plate beef. 16 per cent
bacon, IA per cent: canned tomatoes
II per cent; chuck roast and baked
beans. 10 per cent each; pork chops
8 per cent; ham and canned corn.
per cert each: round steak, 3 pei
and canned peas, 2 per cent, and sir.
loin steak. nut margarine ant
oranges. 1 per cent each. The price
of cornfakes was the same as iE Jan
| uary. 1919"
Changes in Seven-Year Period.
For the seven-year period. January
1913, to January. 1920. two of thu
! ltwenty-four articles for which prices
were secured in January, 1913. ant
upon which this comparison can b'
| based, increased over 200 per cent
Potatoes were 238 per cent anC
| granulated sugar. 207 per cent. higher
| tLan in January. 1918. This mean!
! that the price in January: 1920. wal
! more than three times what it was
| in 1913. The price of nine other ar
| ticles more than doubled during thi.
period. Pork chops increased 101 pei
| cent; lamb, 102 per cent; hens, 10'
| per cent; rice, 110 per cent; corr
| strictly fresh eggs, 123 per cent
storage eggs, 143 per cent and flour
| 145 per cent.
| BASED on the average price fol-
! the year. 1913. as 100, the retail price
index number for the twenty-five
articles of food for the United State.
| was 1877 in December 1919. and 201
| in January. 1920, making an increase
as above stated. of per cent in the
month
! Wholesale Prices Advance.
Wholesale prices in the aggregat.
| continued to advance during January
Food products registered a pronounc
| ed increase. the bureaus weighted
; index number rising from 234 ir
] December to 253 in January. Lumber
| and building materials showed pei
| cent increase, cloths and clothins
| nearly AZ per cent increase an(
metals and metal products nearly
per cent increase in January ove1
! December.
| The large increase in prices of fooo
| commodities is due mainly to the
! rise in sugar and potatoes. In Janu
ary raw sugar averaged more thar
26 per cent higher than in December
! while granulated sugar averaged ap
| Droximately AZ per cent higher. Po
! tatoes were 81 per cent higher. TIL.
! drop in the price of butter. eggs an'
! a few other commodities was offse
| by the rise in coffee, -four. mutton an,
| lamb and poultry.
! Food prices as a whole rose more
| than % per cent during the year from
| January, 1919. to January, 1920
| Cloths and clothing articles as
fuel and lighting prices advanced
about per cent.