The Washington herald., 1920-03-22
MINUTE DROP
IN LIVING COST
Food Prices Average Six
Tenths Of One Per Cent
Below Last Month.
EVERYTHING ELSE UP
Costs Show Increase Of los
Per Cent Over February
Of Last Year.
EVERYTHING ELSE UP

Only q slight decrease In the cost
Of foodstuffs throughout the coun.
try during the month of Februar,
Is recorded by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department oi
Labor, according to figures mad,
public yesterday. The average fam.
lily expenditure for food. they found
was 0.s of 1 per cent less in Feb
ruary than in January.
The increase in January as COM
pared with December was 2.2 pei
cent. hence the decrease of o.
of l per cent In February
above that in December, which un-
til January had been the highes,
point since 1918.
In February of last year there
was q drop of seven per cent az
compared with the previous month
AZ compared with 1919, the prices
In February 1890. show an increase
Of los per cent.
Figures From u Cities.
The conclusions are based on fig.
ures obtained from retail dealers in
ffty-one cities throughout the Unit,
ed States. Although figures gathered
from Representative mar6ets show
that in general there was an in.
crease in the wholesale price of all
articles, there IL noted a decrease
OF 3.5 per cent in the wholesale
price OF farm products and food ar.
ticles during February as against
January.
Articles belonging to a group OF
lumber and building materials show
the largest increase with a rise OF
IL per cent. Metals and metal prod
ucts increased per cent and chem
icals and drugs AZ per cent Some.
what smaller increases were re.
corded for cloths and clothing and
fuel and lighting.
Clothing Up 60 Per Cent.
Measured by changes in the in
dex numbers of the twelve months
from February. 1919, to February
1870. farm products increased nearly
per cent in price, food 24h pei
cent, and cloths and clothing so pei
cent. During the same time fuel
and lighting increased nearly IL pei
cent. metals and metal products
12h per cent, and lumber and build
ing materials more than 81 per cent
Chemicals and drugs increased 61s
per cent, house furnishing goods
nearly 80 per cent. and miscellane-
Gus commodities about . per cent
In this period.
Since January, 1919. monthly re.
tail prices of food were secured for
forty-four food articles Durine
the month of January Is. 1890, te
February l5, 1920, twelve of tn,
forty-four articles increased in
price as follows:
Small Rise I'm Meat.
Cabbage, Is per cent; potatoes, II
per cent: lamb. z per cent; hens
and sugar. 6 per cent each: onions
and oranges, 4 per cent each: raj.
sins, Q per cent; bread. cream OF
wheat and macaf<hi. 2 per cent
each; round steak. pork chops, can
ned salmon, nut margarine, rolled
oats and rice. per cent each: sir.
loin steak. rib roast. ham and ba.
nanas increased less than II pei
cent each.
The seventeen articles which de
creased in price were strictly fresh
eggs, II per cent; evaporated milk
lard and storage eggs, 8 per cent
each; butter and cornmeal. 2 pei
cent each; chuck roast, bacon, fresh
milk, canned corn. canned peas
canned tomatoes and tea, 1 per CEN
each: oleomargarine, cheese. coffee
and prunes decreased less than \
per cent.
During the year ended in Febru'
ary. twenty-nine of the forty-foul
articles showed an increase, severa
OF them over 100 per cent.