{"id":4471,"date":"2026-07-29T13:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:09:17","slug":"a-pound-of-ground-beef-now-costs-6-82-and-that-number-is-crushing-consumer-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4471","title":{"rendered":"A pound of ground beef now costs $6.82 \u2014 and that number is crushing consumer confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Conference Board said Tuesday that its\u00a0consumer confidence index\u00a0fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. That\u2019s essentially the same tepid range its been in since the beginning of the year. In late 2024 and early 2025 the readings were well above 100.<\/p>\n

Read more The Benefits Activation Gap: what claims data teaches us about employee engagement<\/a><\/p>\n

Consumer attitudes had improved modestly in June as gas prices came down to around $3.70 a gallon from more than $4.50 a gallon in late April and early May. But as fighting in the Middle East escalated, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. started to rise again. On Tuesday it was $4.10, according to the auto club AAA.<\/p>\n

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After being attacked by the U.S. and Israel in late February, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil travels, causing a spike in gas prices. That accelerated inflation, causing Americans\u2019 inflation-adjusted incomes to decline.<\/p>\n

Americans remain soured on the economy after five years of elevated\u00a0inflation, potentially\u00a0posing a risk\u00a0to President Donald Trump and Republicans in the midterm elections, which are now less than 100 days away.<\/p>\n

Trump continues to blame inflation on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. Yet inflation has risen since Trump\u2019s inauguration last year, to 3.5% from 3% in January 2025. It jumped even further after the Iran war began Feb. 28, when it was just 2.4%.<\/p>\n

Write-in responses to the survey, which were collected from July 1 to July 22, remained pessimistic. The Board said references to gas prices were down slightly but remained elevated. Respondents\u2019 mention of food and grocery prices increased.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018We\u2019re on top of every restock\u2019: This 24-year-old has made over $4 million off his subscription-based reselling community<\/a><\/p>\n

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Government data shows that buying food to bring home has gotten 33% more expensive since the beginning of 2019. To navigate those higher prices, Americans have\u00a0turned to couponing, comparison\u00a0shopping and\u00a0cutting back\u00a0on favorite foods as they absorb the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century.<\/p>\n

Beef epitomizes\u00a0out-of-control grocery prices for many Americans. The price of a pound of ground beef reached $6.82 in June \u2014 79% more than at the beginning of 2019, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.<\/p>\n

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References to jobs and unemployment picked up slightly this month and views of the current job market fell. Expectations of how the labor market will be six months going forward improved slightly, but remained in negative territory.<\/p>\n

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U.S. employers slowed hiring last month and added only 57,000 jobs, less than half the\u00a0previous month\u2019s total. The unemployment rate declined to a low 4.2% from 4.3% in May, though the drop mostly occurred because many people out of work gave up looking and were no longer counted as unemployed.<\/p>\n

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The number of consumers who mentioned war and geopolitics decreased this month, but the Board suspects that recent escalation in fighting between Iran and the U.S. could cause those mentions to rise in the next survey.<\/p>\n

Read more Elon Musk said money doesn\u2019t matter. Then he rolled out X Money and admitted he\u2019s a \u2018former trillionaire\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its\u00a0consumer confidence index\u00a0fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. 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