Early Signs of Cheaper Turkeys

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Patrick Clapp

Good news for Thanksgiving procrastinators—turkey prices peak in October before dropping in November, and prices are generally lower this year.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the changing cost of goods and services over time. While the CPI for all goods is commonly known as a measure of inflation, we can use subsets of CPI data to track the price changes of specific goods, such as candy or frozen turkeys. Turkey prices are lower in October 2017 than in five of the last seven years,[1] which suggests lower prices per pound this November.

Average Price of Turkey, Frozen, Whole, per Pound
January February March April May June July August September October November December $1 $1.1 $1.2 $1.3 $1.4 $1.5 $1.6 $1.7 $1.8 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017
Source: BLS

[1] 2013 data are excluded as data are not reported for October of that year

This blog reflects Chmura staff assessments and opinions with the information available at the time the blog was written.