Passover and Easter are almost upon us, and many are gathering items to celebrate. Unfortunately, due to rising inflation, Americans will have to spend more than last year in every area. 

According to the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), which looks at price increases from February 2022 to February 2023, if families want to buy matching Easter outfits and take those classic Easter pictures, they will have to spend 3.30% more on clothes than last year. 

As widely reported, eggs are up 55.4% compared to one year prior. Eggs prices are up so much that Dollar Tree has stopped selling them. With this kind of increase, dyeing Easter eggs may have to become a lost tradition. Some have half-joked that painting potatoes will take the place of Easter eggs: “Due to egg prices on the rise … Children will have to hunt potatoes this Easter!” 

Regardless of whether kids will be hunting Easter eggs or potatoes this year, their baskets will cost 8.7% more than last February.  

Sadly, even when the items get sweeter, the prices don’t. Peeps and other popular Easter candy is up 10.6%, Easter egg sugar cookies are up 16.6%, and Easter bunny cupcakes are up 13.8%. 

Children that want to treat the Easter bunny to some carrots will have to fork out 2.6% more from their piggy banks compared to last year. 

This year, the Easter bunny’s magic wasn’t powerful enough to fix rising prices on common Easter items. But what would be powerful enough to fix them is the federal government taking control of its exorbitant spending. 

Inflation began rising in the spring of 2021 following the passage of the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan. Economists and groups like us warned that excessive stimulus spending could trigger inflation. Sadly, we were right, and the pain continues two Easters later. Foreign crises, such as the Ukraine War, worsened global inflation, but policies pursued by the Biden administration sparked domestic inflation before it took off around the world. Scaling back massive spending is needed to bring prices back down to more affordable levels.

To learn about monthly inflation on common household items, see our Inflation Tracker.