Homicides in the United States are continuing to dramatically decrease from the surge in violent crime in the first years of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice.

The sharp decline began in 2023, with one of the largest yearly drops in homicides, and the decrease has continued over the first six months of this year, the council found in its analysis, which is based on about three dozen cities.

Of the dozen crime categories analyzed, only one showed an increase in the first half of this year: shoplifting. The surge in reported shoplifting — it was up 24 percent over the first half of the year in the 23 cities for which the council was able to obtain data — comes amid debates around the country, especially in California, about what to do about retail theft.

The analysis cautioned that more investigation was needed to determine how much of the recorded increase reflected a rise in actual shoplifting, and whether any of it was driven by retailers being more likely to report the crime.

But ordinary Americans have become increasingly frustrated by so many products being locked away on store shelves, and outraged by so-called smash-and-grab robberies that are captured on surveillance video and widely shared on social media.

On the matter of violent crime, not only have many offenses fallen sharply this year, especially homicide — which is down 13 percent this year — but they are now at levels not seen since before the pandemic in the cities that the council studied.