US inflation trend slows down! Online prices drop for 9 consecutive times

Recently, Adobe released the latest Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI) provided by Adobe Analytics . The data showed that the prices of online items in the United States continued to decline last month.

Compared to the same period last year, online item prices fell 2.3% in May , the largest drop since the outbreak began . This downward trend has occurred for 9 consecutive months, and more than half of the tracked categories (11 of 18 tracked categories) have seen annual price declines. On a month-on-month basis, online item prices fell 1.2% in May.

The year-over-year decline in online prices in May was driven primarily by sharp price declines in discretionary categories such as computers (-16.5% year-over-year, -2.4% month-over-month), electronics (-12% year-over-year, -1.8% month-over-month), and appliances (-7.9% year-over-year, -2.4% month-over-month).

Year-over-year increases in the prices of consumer staples have also slowed in recent months . While grocery prices were up 8.2% year-over-year (+0.3% month-over-month), that was down from a 9.3% year-over-year increase in April.

In May, 11 of the 18 DPI categories saw year-on-year price declines, with the flowers /related gifts category experiencing the largest decline, down 27.8% year-on-year (down 0.3% month-on-month).

Another seven categories saw year-over-year price increases , including personal care , pet products, groceries, over-the-counter drugs, tools /home improvement, medical equipment/supplies and apparel.

The personal care category grew 2.7% year-over-year ( down 0.3% month-over-month), a slowdown from 3% year - over -year growth in April and 4.4% year -over-year growth in March .

Below are the highlights of the Adobe Price Index in April.

Groceries : Prices rose 8.2% year- over-year ( + 0.3% m/m ) , but gains have been slowing over the past eight months . The growth in online grocery shopping is consistent with the movement of the Consumer Price Index for that category.

Personal Care Products: Prices increased by 2.7% year-on-year (down 0.3% month-on-month) . This category has been experiencing persistent long-term inflation, with only the month of November 2021 seeing prices fall by 0.9% year-on-year.

Appliances : Prices fell 7.9% year-over-year (down 2.4% month-over-month), the largest drop in the category since Adobe began tracking online prices in 2014. May also marked the eighth consecutive month of price declines for appliances .

Home & Garden : Prices fell 6.3% year-over-year (-0.9% month-over-month), indicating a continued decline in the cost of home and garden products. This is significantly lower than prices in May last year , when prices in this category rose 2.5% year-over- year .

USA

Inflation

Online Item Prices