Labor Report: Consumers Eating More at Home, Eating Less as Prices Rise
The Labor Department reported today that U.S. consumers ate at home more often during 2008, but that they actually didn't save any money by doing so. Food prices have increased substantially in the past few years, that consumers are spending more of their income on food.
The average U.S. household boosted its spending on food consumed at home to $3,744 in 2008, up a whopping 8.1% from 2007, the Labor Department reported Tuesday in its Consumer Expenditure Survey. That was the largest jump since 1989. At the same time, consumers didn’t manage to cut back much on spending at restaurants: The average household spent $2,698 on food away from home, up 1.1% from 2007.
In all, the total food bill rose 5.1%, nearly twice the average of the previous 23 years.
*****
According to the Bureau for Economic Analysis, prices at food stores rose 6.0% in 2008, while prices at food-service establishments rose 4.4%. After adjusting for those inflation effects, households actually did cut back about 0.2% on the amount of food they consumed in 2008.
People aren't buying or eating more food, they are just paying quite a bit more for it. Prices for eating out have also risen substantially, leading
