Ground beef. (AP)

(CNSNews.com) – The average price for all types of ground beef per pound hit its all-time high -- $3.884 per pound -- in the United States in July, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That was up from $3.880 per pound in June. A year ago, in July 2013, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $3.459 per pound. Since then, the average price for a pound of ground beef has gone up 42.1 cents--or about 12 percent.

Five years ago, in July 2009, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $2.147, according to the BLS. In those five years, the average price has climbed by $1.737 per pound--or almost 81 percent.

Along with the average price data, the BLS calculates a consumer price index, which is a “tool that simplifies the measurement of movements in a numerical series,” explains BLS. “An index for 110, for example, means there has been a 10-percent increase in price since the reference period.”

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The consumer price index for seasonally adjusted uncooked ground beef was 270.724 in July, which is down slightly from the all-time high of 271.726 in the previous month of June. When BLS began tracking this index in January of 1947, the index stood at 26.5.

The CPI is simply the average change over time in prices paid by consumers for a market basket of goods and services.

The seasonally-adjusted price index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs also hit an all-time high in July, according to BLS.

In January 1967, when the BLS started tracking this measure, the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was 38.1. As of last July, it was 236.147. By this January, it hit 240.006. By June, it hit 253.318. And, in July, it climbed to a record 254.174.

“The food index rose 0.4 percent in July, its fifth increase at least that large in the last 6 months,” states the BLS. “The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs has increased 7.6 percent over the [last 12 months] and the index for dairy and related products has risen 4.3 percent.”

The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.