A look at consumer prices 6 months into the second Trump administration . . . and it’s not a pretty sight

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/15/july-us-consumer-goods-price-tracker/

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 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.