The Bureau of Labor Statistics shared new data about egg prices on March 12, noting a sharp increase in February due to the bird flu outbreak and broader inflation
Shortly after President Donald Trump shared an article telling Americans to “shut up about egg prices,” a report revealed just how much egg costs have spiked in the U.S. since Trump took office.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index, the price of eggs rose 10.4% in February alone, and 15.2% in January. The steep hikes contributed to the nearly 60% price increase since February of last year, due to the worsening bird flu outbreak and inflation as a whole.
The new numbers come days after Trump posted a link to an article with the headline “Shut Up About Egg Prices ― Trump Is Saving Consumers Millions,” written by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, on Truth Social.
In the article, Kirk blamed former President Joe Biden for the rising egg costs, claiming that Trump is currently focused on saving Americans money elsewhere, even if he has no quick solution to grocery prices.
Lowering the costs of groceries and other goods was one of Trump’s biggest 2024 campaign promises. He vowed back in August that he would “immediately bring prices down, starting on day one” if he was elected.
However, after Trump was sworn in and the economy continued to struggle, the White House changed its tune and seemingly acknowledged that the president has limited control over some sources of inflation — the last spike of which was due to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
During a White House press briefing in late January, press secretary Karoline Leavitt pinned the blame on former President Joe Biden for rising prices of “everything,” including poultry products, rather than the bird flu.
Similarly, Trump refused to take the blame for inflation while speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity in February.
“I’m only here for two and a half weeks … I had nothing to do with it,” he said, per CNN.
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Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board previously told CNN that Americans should expect to continue to see high egg prices until the bird flu is no longer detected.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” Metz told the outlet of egg shortages. “Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue.”
There is “no treatment” for bird flu, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is part of the Department of Agriculture.
On their website, the service explained that the only way to stop the disease is to “depopulate all affected and exposed poultry” — a process that the Biden administration began before he left office.
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Apart from the rising price of eggs, the economy has continued to fluctuate more generally, as Trump flip-flips on his plans for international tariffs.
The Dow Jones closed lower by 890 points on Monday, March 10, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also saw steep losses, according to CNN. Additionally, the NASDAQ posted its biggest single-day decline since September 2022.
“I would have said a couple of months ago a recession was really unlikely this year. Now, it’s probably not 50/50, but getting close to 50/50,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers wrote in an thread on X. “There is one central reason. Economic policies that are completely counterproductive.”
I told @kasie @CNN today, I think there is a real possibility of a recession.
I would have said a couple months ago a recession was really unlikely this year. Now, it’s probably not 50/50 but getting close to 50/50.
There is one central reason. Economic policies that are…
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) March 10, 2025
Trump also refused to deny the possibility of a looming recession while speaking with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures on March 9.
“I hate to predict things like that,” he said. “There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.”
One thing Trump can control, however, is what action he ultimately takes with tariffs on U.S. trading partners. After continually reversing and reinstating tariffs on Canada and delaying some for Mexico, it remains to be seen what effect the potential change will have on U.S. princes.
The only of Trump’s new tariffs in place for the February C.P.I. data were the initial 10 percent levies on Chinese imports. Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told The New York Times that those didn’t make a “discernible impact on the C.P.I. in February, including for apparel, furniture and electronic prices.”
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However, those levies were doubled earlier this month. That news, combined with the additional tariffs on other countries — and their vows to retaliate — has strategists worried that rising consumer prices could be on the horizon.
“The growth scare is real,” said Peter Tchir, head of macro strategy at Academy Securities, per the Times.
