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The spike has contributed to an overall rise in grocery prices, which increased half a percent last month, the Labor Department’s consumer price index report released this week found.

As of December, overall food inflation was 2.5% year over year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index summary.

Those increases would have been tied to the consumer price index, according to city policy analysts.

The city ordinance sets an allowable annual increase in rents between a guaranteed minimum of 3% and a maximum of 8% based on the consumer price index, which measures inflation.

Those penalties also would be adjusted each year, depending on changes in the consumer price index.