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Average Price: Milk, Fresh, Whole, Fortified (Cost per Gallon/3.8 Liters) in U.S. City Average APU0000709112

U.S. Dollars • Monthly • Not Seasonally Adjusted
Source: FRED | Last updated: 2025-09-11 07:34:02-05 | Range: 1995-07-01 → 2025-08-01

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Trend

Momentum

Trend Heat Strip & Seasonality

YoY Heat Strip

≤ −5% Decline > +5% Growth

Seasonality (Average by Month)

What am I looking at?

What it shows: the average level of the series for each calendar month (Jan…Dec) across the full history.

Computation: for each month m, take the mean of all observations whose calendar month = m (all years equally weighted).
Interpretation:
- Not seasonally adjusted (NSA): clear recurring peaks/troughs by month.
- Seasonally adjusted (SA): should be fairly flat (seasonality already removed).
Caveats: uses raw levels, so long-run trend can dominate; best for monthly series. For a relative view, consider a seasonal index (month_mean ÷ overall_mean − 1) or limit to the last N years.

Distribution & Extremes

Histogram of Monthly Changes

Context

Recent Prints

Date	Value	MoM	YoY

Release

Average Price Data

See full release page

Typical schedule and next expected date may vary; check the release page for official timing.

What this measures & how to read it

Fresh whole milk, fortified, sold per gallon regardless of packaging type. Includes organic and non-organic milk.

Average consumer prices are calculated for household fuel, motor fuel, and food items from prices collected for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Average prices are best used to measure the price level in a particular month, not to measure price change over time. It is more appropriate to use CPI index values for the particular item categories to measure price change.

Prices, except for electricity, are collected monthly by BLS representatives in the 75 urban areas priced for the CPI. Electricity prices are collected for the BLS for the same 75 areas on a monthly basis by the Department of Energy using mail questionnaires. All fuel prices include applicable Federal, State, and local taxes; prices for natural gas and electricity also include fuel and purchased gas adjustments.

For more information, please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/average-prices.htm).

Tip: focus on multi-month trends to reduce noise from seasonality, one-off shocks, and revisions.