New York CNN —
For the first time since early last year, food prices aren’t rising faster than overall inflation — although dining out remains a pricey endeavor.
The latest Consumer Price Index released Tuesday showed that food prices increased 2.9% for the year ended in November, coming in below the headline inflation rate of 3.1%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
It’s the first time since January 2022 that the food index did not outpace the overall CPI.
You can thank grocery prices for that: They went up 0.1% from October to bring their annual inflation rate to a mere 1.7%, the lowest since June 2021.
“The acute pressure that was on the food supply chains has retreated,” said Phil Powell, executive director of the Indiana Business Research Center and clinical associate professor of business economics and public policy at Indiana University.
Food away from home, however, is rising at more than three times that pace. In November, that index accelerated 0.4% from October and 5.3% from the year before.
Restaurant prices remain elevated because of the higher wages food service businesses have had to pay to retain workers, Powell said.
“That’s driven by labor costs and an unemployment rate that is still impressively below 4%,” he said.
edition.cnn.com/2023/12/12/economy/food-inflation-november-cpi/index.html
