FOOD PRICES UP
While average prices for goods are down overall, the cost of most kitchen staples rose from March to April. According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery store food and beverage prices rose 2.6% last month, the largest monthly increase since February 1974. 
- Milk went up 1.5%, while the cost of white bread rose 3.5%. Eggs had the biggest jump, with an increase of 16.1% in just one month.
- Raw ground beef rose 3.7% over March prices, while fresh and frozen chicken parts were up 5.2%. Pork prices rose by 3%.
- Prices were down in many other categories, however. The apparel index declined by 4.7%, while recreational equipment was down 1%. Yet, the biggest drop might have been in gasoline, with prices falling 20.6%.
See more about the price of goods and consumer spending over the past two months here.
COVID-19 DATA & A REDDIT AMAAsk the USAFacts team anything about collecting COVID-19 data tomorrow on Reddit. Check Facebook and Twitter for a link at 9 A.M. PT on May 27. Reddit users,sign up to get a reminder. The USAFacts Coronavirus Hub is a major data source for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House Coronavirus Task Force is also using it to plan governmental responses.
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This is the same data available to all Americans at USAFacts.org every day. When everyone has access to the same data, probing, fact-based discussions can take place.
THE STATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
The unemployment rate hit double digits in all but six states in April. A new report at USAFacts has the numbers on what states have been hit hardest.
- Many states had large losses in hospitality jobs. Tourism-heavy Nevada was the worst hit, with the unemployment rate reaching 28.2%. Leisure and hospitality industry jobs typically comprise 11% of the nation’s jobs overall, but they're 25% of the jobs in Nevada.
- In some states, like Hawaii and Michigan, more than one in five people in the labor force are unemployed.
- California, Michigan, and Ohio lost a combined 408,000 manufacturing jobs, more than 29% of the manufacturing jobs lost.
- At 7.9%, Connecticut had the lowest unemployment rate.
Get more data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including interactive maps on unemployment numbers, here.
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