Between groceries and restaurants, Americans are spending more of their income on food than they have in 30 years.
That’s according to the latest data from the USDA, which shows that U.S. consumers spent more than 11% of their disposable income on eating — whether at home or at a restaurant — in 2022, the highest percentage since 1991.
“This is really a metric that’s about the share of our disposable personal income which the USDA tracks, and which recently was at essentially a 31-year high,” Jesse Newman, food reporter for the Wall Street Journal, told CBS News.
Experts say painfully high food prices, and ongoing inflation more generally, help explain why many Americans are down on the economy despite low unemployment, rising wages and steady economic growth. Inflation is expected to continue slowing this year, with the National Association for Business Economists on Monday forecasting that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a basket of common goods and services — will decline to an annual rate of 2.4% this year, compared with 4.1% in 2023 and 8% in 2022.
He’s not saying it was pushing prices. He was saying it was potentially a big driver of the OP headline.
Yes, prices are going up, but a potential big factor in the increase of spending on food could be associated delivery costs.
They are likely considered part of “money spent on food” as calculated by the study, and have been a much more prevalent thing since the pandemic.
No, that’s literally my point. The peice at the grocery store is BEFORE delivery service charges. Delivery isn’t food. It’s delivery. Grocery prices have gone up by this amount at least around here. I’m saying greedlfation has been bad on food.