NEW YORK — Consumers paid the most ever for eggs in June at grocery stores after a shortage caused by the worst U.S. outbreak of bird flu.
Prices surged 31 percent from the previous month to a record $2.57 for a dozen large eggs, the biggest jump going back to 1980, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. Consumers may pay up to $8 billion more in 2015 for eggs after the disease, according to a Goldman Sachs report.
Bird flu ravaged more than 48 million fowl in the six months through mid-June, according to Department of Agriculture data. Iowa, the country’s largest producer, was hit hardest, losing almost 32 million birds, most of them egg-laying chickens. This reduced supplies and sent wholesale prices to a record $2.62 a dozen June 10, according to data from commodity researcher Urner Barry.
“The costs the retailers are paying for wholesale shell eggs are being passed along to the consumer,” said Brian Moscogiuri, an egg-market reporter for Urner Barry.
