More people are eating at home and passing up nights out at a restaurant, thanks to the economy.

At least that’s what grocery sales are indicating.

“We’re seeing a rise in certain (food) categories that tell us people are eating at home or at least trying to make some choices with their food budget,” said John Olson, store director at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway.

Sales are up for pasta products and box dinners such as macaroni and cheese, Olson said. Tuna sales also have increased, he said.

“Even Spam is showing increases that we haven’t seen for some time,” Olson said.

Food producers last year held their pricing for some time, but prices began to rise by the last quarter of the year, Olson said. The costs that producers were incurring were passed on to shoppers. Now, some of those prices are coming back down, Olson said.

“You’re seeing supply and demand factors at play and just needing to move things,” Olson said. “We’re seeing some significant price decreases.”

Since June 2008, the Journal-World has been monitoring prices of 15 grocery items at the major grocery stores, including Target, Wal-Mart, Checkers, Hy-Vee and Dillons.

Most of the time, the average price of an item from all of the stores dropped or increased only a few cents, usually a dime or less. At least once during the eight-month period of June through January, most of the items had price fluctuations of more than 20 cents, according to the Journal-World surveys.

In June, the average price of a 64-ounce Minute Maid orange juice was $3.13. In July it dropped to $2.95 and then rose to $3.53 in August. In January, its average price was $3.14.

The average price of a loaf of white Wonder Bread was $2.17 in June, and last month it was $2.11 after reaching a high of $2.35 in November.

The price of a one-pound bag of Barilla spaghetti noodles held steady in the $1.40 area but spiked to $1.73 in December. In January it was back down to $1.34.

The average price per pound of 85-15 percent ground beef ranged from $2.74 to $3 during the survey period.