The American people are finding new ways to counter inflation. Although slowing down from its high in 2022, inflation is still making things more expensive, with no real increase in wages or salaries.
McDonald’s menu prices, a good bell-weather for the restaurant industry as a whole, have also been skyrocketing. Low income families have even discarded fast food to eat at home. NBC News says:
Many companies that raised prices during the recovery from the pandemic cited higher costs for the ingredients, materials and labor needed to provide goods and services that many consumers were racing to buy. Those price hikes, exacerbated by supply chain snagsin late 2021, helped push the annual inflation rate to a four-decade high of more than 9% by summer 2022. It has since fallen to 3.1%, meaning prices overall are still going up, albeit more slowly.
McDonald’s recently vowed to focus more on affordability this year, with CEO Chris Kempczinski saying in a recent earnings call that lower-income customers were forgoing the golden arches to eat more cheaply at home.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, prices have continuously been increasing – close to 20% higher. Americans are buying fewer “nice to have” times, like snacks, and focusing on essentials at discount stores. The Detroit News continues:
Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back. In grocery stores, they’re shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods.
More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again. But the growing consumer pushback to what critics condemn as price-gouging has been most evident with food as well as with consumer goods like paper towels and napkins.
Rising inflation, coupled with the economic boom in the stock market and growing unemployment, is making for an explosive economic situation.
READ NEXT: Will Landlines Make a Comeback?
