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These everyday items saw the biggest price increases from inflation in July, CPI report shows

Americans are paying top dollar to root for their teams in person.

While overall prices held steady last month and year-over-year inflation fell to 8.5% from 9.1% in June, Americans continued to experience a wide range of price increases.

The increase includes tickets to sporting games, which saw the biggest price hike, 4.9%, last month across all goods and services the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks in its Consumer Price Index.

The other top price increases last month include eggs, photography equipment, window coverings and coffee.

Meanwhile, some of the items that saw the biggest price increases in recent CPI reports saw the biggest drops last month. Those items include rental cars, airfare, gas, public transportation and hot dogs.

Here's what's behind the biggest price increases.

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Sports tickets

Tickets to sports games are more expensive as stadiums' operating costs have increased. Jesse Lawrence, founder and CEO of TicketIQ, a site that tracks ticket resale prices, attributes the rise to "pent-up demand" for attending live games after months of pandemic lockdowns. "Teams are taking advantage and increasing prices as a result.

Tickets for sports games rose by 4.9% in July
Tickets for sports games rose by 4.9% in July

"Additionally, with NFL and college sports starting up, ticket prices are more expensive this month compared to last month when the majority of events being bought were MLB."

Eggs

Prices for eggs rose by 4.3% last month. They're up more than 38% over the past year, not accounting for seasonal adjustments.

Since February, there have been 400 reported outbreaks of bird flu in chickens in 39 states, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, producers have had to kill off chicken flocks to prevent further outbreaks.

Cameras and photography equipment

Camera and photography equipment prices rose by 4.1% last month. That comes as demand for film cameras and supplies is experiencing a resurgence mirroring the shift back to vinyl records. Additionally, Nikon and Cannon announced price increases on digital cameras this year, citing higher shipping costs and a persistent nationwide shortage of microchips.

Window shades, curtains and blinds

Prices for window coverings rose by 4% in July. At the wholesale level, producers of window coverings charged 23% in June compared with June of last year, according to data from the Producer Price Index.

Coffee

Coffee prices rose by 3.5% last month. The increase comes as coffee farmers in Brazil, the world's top exporting country of Arabica coffee, aren't able to meet demand because of poor weather. Coffee prices are expected to remain elevated at chains like Starbucks, Bloomberg reported.

Elisabeth Buchwald is a personal finance and markets correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on Twitter @BuchElisabeth and sign up for our Daily Money newsletter here

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CPI report 2022: Biggest price hikes were sports tickets, eggs, coffee