WASHINGTON — The average price paid for white pan bread increased for the first time in three months, while whole wheat bread rose sharply higher in July, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The national average retail price of white pan bread was 142.7c, up 2.4c per lb from June but down 8.6c from July 2011. The increase followed a drop of 0.9c per lb in June and 1.4c in May. On a month-to-month basis, the average price for white pan bread in July rose in three regions — up 6.1c in the Midwest, up 4.1c in the South and up 2.9c in the West — and fell in one region — down 5.2c in the Northeast.

At 197.4c per lb, the national average price for whole wheat bread was up 3.9c per lb from June and up 12.4c per lb from July 2011.

The national average price of family flour in July was 51.6c per lb, down 0.3c from June and down 1.7c from July 2011.

The national average price for spaghetti and macaroni in July was 136.9c per lb, up 3.7c from June and up 10c from July 2011. Chocolate chip cookies were 364c per lb, down 8.9c from June but up 29.4c from July 2011. The national average price of white long-grain rice was 68.1c per lb, unchanged from June but down 3.5c from July 2011.