BLS study: Local grocery prices rose in August

Commuters got some relief from a decline in energy prices in the Boston metropolitan area last month, but grocery prices continued to climb.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said today that consumer energy prices fell 5.9 percent in August, compared with July, the first decline since earlier in the year.

Gasoline and heating-oil prices were both down last month.

Boston-area gas prices, at $3.73 a gallon, were slightly below the national average. Despite recent declines, energy prices overall are still 35 percent higher than a year ago.

Grocery store prices surged 1.9 percent, after a 1.5 percent increase in July. Higher meat prices drove prices higher, BLS said. The 6.2 percent increase in food prices is the largest one-year advance since 1998.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe staff. File photo: Dominic Chavez, Globe staff)