What prices fall for consumers

Even if inflation has not yet decreased At the target level of decision -makers, some pockets of the American economy have The prices seen recently decrease.

Consumers have seen prices deflate for plane tickets, products, household items, electronics and petrol, for example, according to the Consumer price indexan inflation gauge. (Deflation is when prices decrease, while disinflation is when prices Continue to grow but at a slower rate.)

“There are many idiosyncratic factors affecting certain categories,” said Ryan Sweet, an American chief economist at Oxford Economics. “In the end, it is the supply and demand that will affect prices.”

Of course, certain categories are volatile and subject to extreme price giations – which means that price reductions could quickly revers. Prices also threaten to hike and get up on numerous consumer prices.

“Consumers should take advantage of these lower prices because they are not there to stay,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's. “They disappear fairly quickly, I think, in the coming weeks and months.”

Here are some areas where consumers have seen a little less stress on their wallets lately.

President Donald Trump Claimed in an article on social networks on Friday This gas price had dropped to $ 1.98 per gallon for motorists. However, this assertion is not true: the Average retail gas price The Gallon is over $ 3 ,, According to the United States. Energy information administration.

However, prices have greatly decreased in the past year.

Fuel prices are down almost 10% compared to a year ago, according to the latest IPC data. They fell by around 6% in February to March, on a seasonal basis, according to data.

Oil prices have a sharp impact on the prices that consumers pay for the pump, because petrol is refined of oil.

Brut oil prices have dropped considerably. For example, the long -term prices for West Texas IntermediateAn American oil reference is down 22% in the past year.

The lower prices point out that the American economy slows down, which would mean less oil demand, said Sweet. Meanwhile, a group of OPEC + known oil producing nations agreed to raise production this weekend, Price weakening in a larger offer.

“Prices cannot drop a lot for a very long time or producers (oilmen) will start to withdraw production,” said Zandi.

The drop in oil prices filter in many other areas of the economy, Zandi said.

Airlines' prices are an example, said economists.

Airline ticket prices are down more than 5% compared to a year ago, according to IPC data. They dropped approximately 5.3% in the month of February to March.

Jet fuel is a major contribution cost for airlines; Aircraft fuel prices are down approximately 15% of the year until April 25, according to International Air Transport Association.

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The lower travel demand, especially international tourists in the United States, also exerted downward pressure on prices, said economists.

International visits to the United States fell by around 14% in March 2025 compared to the previous year, according to at US Travel Association.

The international community is Beware of traveling to the United States Due to the tensions of a trade war initiated by the United States and the territorial declarations of the White House as Canada becoming 51^st State or on a possible takeover of Greenland, economists said. People also fear the threat of being detained when they enter the country, economists said.

Products such as tomatoes, lettuce and potatoes have experienced a sharp drop in prices.

Tomatoes, for example, have seen prices drop by around 8% in the past year, according to IPC data. Those of lettuce and potatoes fell respectively by around 5% and 2%.

Costs lower to diesel fuel – and, by extension, reduced transport costs from the farm to the grocery shelf – helped, said economists.

There are also seasonal factors of supply and demand at stake, they said.

“Tomato supplies are increasing because Florida harvest is on track,” wrote Brad Rubin, sector director at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, in an email. “The Mexico spring harvest is also abundant in Culiacan.

The tomatoes imported from Mexico will face new prices from mid-July, however, following a Trump administration withdrawal of a trade agreement between the two nations.

Lettuce harvest went to Salinas, California, for spring and harvest has “abundant yield and high quality,” wrote Rubin. The harvest generally goes to Yuma, Arizona, from November to April, but “production challenges” during the winter have increased the pressure on prices, he wrote.

TVs and smartphones have seen prices drop by 9% and 14% in the past year, according to IPC data. They each decreased more than 1% from February to March.

It is common to see prices deflate for consumer electronics, as companies can generally manufacture products such as televisions and iPhones more efficiently over time, said Sweet.

“The flat screen TV you may have bought five years ago is much cheaper if you go out today,” he said. “It's normal.”

Technology is continuously improving, which means that consumers get more for their money. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the data from the IPC, deals with these quality improvements as a drop in pricesgiving the illusion of the drop in prices on paper.

The reasons for falling prices in other categories can be somewhat difficult to identify, economists said.

For example, some household items such as dishes and cutlery, sports items and toys have seen prices drop by around 11%, 5%and 2%, respectively, in the past year. Likewise, clothing market segments such as infants and toddlers have dropped by 4%.

Clothes, for example, can be “very seasonal,” said Sweet.

“It could be the time or time of certain holidays,” he said. “All this can throw the prices of clothes for a loop.”

A potential explanation, said Zandi, is that retailers who have tried to store certain goods in anticipation of prices may have increased their more than expected inventories, and can assess these goods more aggressively to reduce these stocks, he said.