A look at consumer prices 6 months into the second Trump administration

It’s been a little over six months since President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term. In that time, the economic landscape has shifted quite drastically: The new administration has implemented broad tariffs on U.S. trade partners, the stock market has both plummeted and soared to historic heights, hiring is down, fears of a recession are on the rise and, perhaps most notably for everyday Americans, consumer prices are changing.

Now $6.34, the cost of ground beef hit all-time highs for the sixth consecutive month, jumping another 4% since June. But it’s not just backyard barbecues and ballpark dogs that are getting more expensive — bananas, electricity and chicken also remain at or less than a cent away from their record prices, according to the latest data from the Consumer Price Index.

Across the board, consumer prices are about 2.7% higher than they were this time last year, an increase economists largely attribute to the president’s sweeping tariffs pushing costs higher. And with even greater import taxes on more than 90 countries taking effect last week, it may not be the last time the price of consumer goods and services tips the scale.

The Chicago Tribune is tracking 11 everyday costs for Americans — eggs, milk, bread, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, chicken, ground beef, gasoline, electricity and natural gas — and how they are changing, or not, under the second Trump administration. This tracker is updated monthly using CPI data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Eggs

Egg prices have dropped for a fourth month straight, tumbling another 18 cents from June to July. According to the latest data, the average cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs is $3.60 nationwide.

The sharp decline in egg prices is likely due to a decrease in bird flu cases in commercial and backyard flocks since the start of the year. In the first two months of 2025, tens of millions of birds were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza across 39 states, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. As of July, the virus was detected in only one flock in Pennsylvania — representing less than 30,000 U.S. birds.

Currently, the cost of eggs is about 13% less than it was in December 2024, before Trump took office.

Milk

The cost of milk, meanwhile, is trending up again, jumping 13 cents month-over-month.

There are a number of factors that could be driving this price increase. Like egg-laying hens and poultry flocks, dairy cows have been affected by bird flu. In April and May, the number of reported cases shot up again, so shoppers could be seeing the lingering effects of that disruption on the supply chain. Additionally, rising costs may be a result of lower milk production and fewer dairy products being imported into the country in recent months, according to Tribune analysis of USDA data.

A gallon of fresh, fortified whole milk cost $4.16 in July. That price is 1.5% higher than it was in the last month of the administration of President Joe Biden and up 4.5% from a year ago.

Bread

The average price of white bread fell for the third month straight, landing at $1.85 per pound in July to mark a nearly three-year low.

Bananas

Shoppers can expect to pay more for their next bunch of bananas. The staple fruit cost a record-breaking $0.66 per pound in July — just a fraction more than the previous high set two months ago.

Inflated prices are likely due to Trump’s trade war, with tariffs imposed on the country’s top banana suppliers. Imports from Guatemala and Honduras are levied at 10%, while Ecuador and Costa Rica’s tariff rates are set at 15% and Mexico is subject to a 25% tax.

Oranges

No data on orange prices was available for July.

In June, the cost of navel oranges went up more than 4% for an average price per pound of $1.63 nationwide.

Tomatoes

Is it a fruit? Is it a vegetable? Wherever you fall on the tomato debate, they may be getting more expensive.

In July, the cost of field-grown tomatoes was approximately $1.79 per pound. That’s 5 cents higher than the previous month but down roughly 13% since Trump took power.

These changes, however, are largely tied to the harvesting season. Tomato prices vary depending on the time of year, rising through the late summer and fall, peaking in the early winter months and then plummeting in the spring.

But there may soon be price movement outside the standard seasonality. Last month, the Trump administration announced it was placing a 17% tariff on most Mexican-grown tomatoes, which make up the vast majority of all tomatoes sold in the U.S. As a result, agricultural business experts anticipate American grocers will start charging more for the staple food.

Chicken

The average cost of fresh, whole chicken fell slightly month-over-month to $2.08 per pound. Prices remain less than a cent off June’s all-time highs and are the second highest on record — going back more than 45 years.

So why the elevated prices? It could be a result of rising feed costs, the lingering effects of bird flu on the supply chain or that more measurable increases in beef prices are driving a shift in consumer demand toward cheaper meat options like chicken.

Ground Beef

The cost of ground beef is climbing up, up and up.

In July, prices again notched record highs, with a pound of 100% ground beef chuck setting you back about $6.34.

The rising cost can be attributed to a confluence of factors. The U.S. cattle inventory is the lowest it’s been in almost 75 years, and severe drought in parts of the country has further reduced the feed supply, according to the USDA.

Supply challenges and rising feed costs stateside mean the country is importing more. But beef and cattle sourced from other nations isn’t necessarily a cheaper alternative. New tariff rates on top beef importers like Canada and Brazil took effect in August, raising the countries’ already steep import taxes to 35% and 50%, respectively. Plus, last month the U.S. suspended all live cattle imports from Mexico due to concerns over a flesh-eating parasite, further straining the country’s supply of beef and cattle.

With increased costs both locally and abroad, this may not be the last time shoppers see record prices this year.

Electricity

At approximately 19 cents per kilowatt-hour, the current price of electricity is one fraction of a cent off last month’s record.

Month-over-month changes in electric costs typically register at less than a cent, but that doesn’t mean consumers won’t feel it in their pocketbooks. Prices have been steadily increasing throughout the year, and in fact, July was the first month since January that the national average didn’t notch a new high.

As for Chicago, ComEd, the city’s primary electric utility, announced earlier this year that a massive supply rate increase would hit this summer, warning that the cost for an average residential customer was expected to go up by $10.60 per month. For some Chicagoans, that supply increase translated to triple-digit hikes on their latest bills.

Since December, the average price per kilowatt-hour has increased by more than 7%, and with long, hot summer days ahead, most Americans won’t see lower rates anytime soon.

Gasoline

Planning an end-of-summer road trip? You’ll be happy to know gas prices are falling again — albeit only slightly.

A gallon of regular unleaded costs $3.29, dropping 2 cents month-over-month.

Prices in Chicago tell a different story. Now $3.52, the cost of gas in the city went up from the previous month and currently hovers about 7% higher than the national average, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Nationally, gasoline prices are up 4.5% under the Trump administration — a difference of 14 cents per gallon.

Natural Gas

The nationwide cost of piped utility gas, or natural gas, has fallen for the first time in a year. From June to July, the price dropped 1 cent to $1.64 per therm.

Yet, on average, Americans are paying close to 8% more to heat their homes, ovens and stovetops than when Biden left office. Year-over-year, that difference is even more drastic: a roughly 17% change.