US inflation is rising and especially egg prices are going through the roof. Americans are taking extreme measures to make sure they can still afford their morning pancake.
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00:00It's become a common sight in U.S. grocery stores.
00:04Empty shelves. Hardly any eggs here.
00:07And if they can be found at all, they come with an astronomical price tag.
00:12And it's not only the raw stuff.
00:14The price of egg dishes in restaurants is up.
00:17Many fast food chains are adding a surcharge to everything from omelettes to pancakes.
00:22Food inflation is hurting Americans.
00:26So much so that some are getting creative.
00:30A growing trend, backyard chicken.
00:33Raising the animals at home brings a steady supply of the nutritious goods.
00:38This small livestock farm in Texas sets hobby farmers up.
00:45In the last few weeks we have noticed a dramatic increase in the demand for chickens.
00:50People are wanting to buy them because the egg prices have gone up or eggs just are not available.
00:56Our sales for poultry have doubled or may potentially triple.
01:00I mean we're selling 100 chickens a week or more.
01:05Truck driver Arturo Bequera is looking at Rhode Island Reds today.
01:09They're a popular breed because they're easy to raise and lay reliably.
01:15The egg prices went up a lot, a lot.
01:19It is expensive now.
01:21I guess it's cheaper to buy chickens than raise them.
01:25I think.
01:26We will see what happens.
01:30One of the reasons for the unusually high egg prices, the avian flu,
01:34which has decimated poultry livestock across the U.S.
01:37But while egg prices are visibly high,
01:41inflation has long been an issue for Americans.
01:44However, it has come down a lot from its post-COVID high near 10 percent.
01:49We're close but not there on inflation.
01:52And you did see today's inflation print which says the same thing.
01:56We've made great progress toward 2 percent.
01:59Last year inflation was 2.6 percent.
02:02So great progress but we're not quite there yet.
02:04So we want to keep policy restrictive for now.
02:08The Trump administration's policies are not helping.
02:11Whether it's loud appeals for lower interest rates
02:13or tariff threats against trade partners,
02:16economists are warning that Americans will continue
02:19to shell out more for goods and services.
02:22So maybe backyard chicken can ease the financial pain a bit.
02:26Although with the spread of the avian flu,
02:29the price for live chicken has gone up too.
02:37For more UN videos visit www.un.org