Here’s the deflation breakdown for October 2024 — in one chart

As inflation has throttled back from pandemic-era highs, consumers have seen prices decline outright for many household items.

This dynamic, known as deflation, generally doesn’t occur on a broad, sustained scale in the U.S. economy: With limited exceptions, businesses are generally loath to lower prices once they’ve increased, economists said.

But prices in some pockets of the economy, largely for physical goods — from new cars to appliances, sporting goods, consumer electronics and certain apparel — have deflated over the past year, according to the consumer price index.

“We are seeing [deflation] to some extent,” said Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

Largely, prices have pulled back as pandemic-era contortions in supply-and-demand dynamics unwind, economists said. The U.S. dollar has also been relatively strong against major global currencies, making it cheaper to import goods from overseas.

But supply chains have “normalized” and deflation has “moderated to a pretty significant degree” as a result, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.

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Appliances were roughly 2% cheaper in October than they were a year ago, for example, according to the CPI.

Annual prices have also declined for clocks, lamps and decorative items, down about 3%; dishes and flatware, down 7%; women’s outerwear, down 6%; children’s apparel, down 1%; toys, down 3%; pet products, down 1%; and new cars, down 2%.

Prices for some categories — such as furniture and bedding, men’s clothing, cosmetics, and used cars and trucks — are down from October 2023, but they’ve rebounded somewhat in recent months, according to CPI data.

That said, used cars and trucks should see a resumption of deflation since “wholesale prices have fallen recently, and supply and demand continues to improve in the sector,” Bank of America economists wrote Monday in a research note.