December 17, 2013
(CNSNews.com) - The average price for a pound of ground beef hit its all-time in the United States in November, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In January 1980, when BLS started tracking the average price of 100-percent beef  ground chuck, a pound cost $1.82. By this November, the same pound of ground beef cost $3.61 per pound. That was up from $3.49 per pound in October.
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(CNSNews.com/Ali Meyer)
A decade ago, in November 2003, a pound of ground chuck cost $2.49. Since then, the price has gone up 45 percent.
Despite the increase in the average cost of ground beef, the Consumer Price Index remained unchanged in November, according to BLS.
“On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers was unchanged in November after decreasing 0.1 percent in October. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in November after increasing 0.1 percent in October,” the BLS states.
“The food index rose slightly in November, with the food at home index unchanged,” said the BLS. (See CPI, Nov. 2013.pdf)
The BLS calculates an overall food index of food prices and also a food at home index and a food away from home index. Ground chuck beef is included in both the "food index" and "food at home" index, according to the BLS.