During the civil war, rising inflation in the north meant that the cost of food and other items skyrocketed. many store and factory workers lost their jobs. most businesses could not afford to operate. the prices for most goods decreased sharply.

the cost of food and other items skyrocketed

Explanation:

During the Civil War the economy of the North was badly affected. The main reason for this was that it was spending lot of money on the war, the military, in order to be able to win against the South. Also, lot of men were engaged into the war, so there was a lack of workers in certain sectors for some time. This led to lack of some products on the market, but also in a quickly rising inflation. The inflation led to the cost of living to skyrocket, and the prices of the food were especially affected by it as they increased by a lot, leaving lot of people on the verge of existence for some time.