USDA: Cost Of Eating Out Continues To Increase Rapidly

Agriculture Department economists are predicting that this year the foods we buy at the grocery store will go up in price by an average of 1.1%.  However, “Food away from home or restaurant, prices are predicted to increase by 4.1%, noted USDA economist Megan Schweitzer.

She said that's not because restaurants are paying a lot more for the foods that they serve, but they are paying a lot more for the people who provide services at the restaurant.  The folks who prepare the food or who clean up after we leave.  She says restaurants are more than food, providers more than sellers of goods.  They're part of the service economy and on that score.

“Across the economy, we're seeing that prices for services are up by about 5% over the past year, where prices for goods have dropped over the past year by about 2%," Schweitzer said.

And that, she noted, is one reason why the cost of eating out is rising so much faster than food prices at the supermarket.

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