F&B wage growth has decelerated below menu-price inflation in 2026

Year-over-year change, food-services & drinking-places production wages (BLS CES7072200003) vs Food-Away-From-Home CPI (BLS CUUR0000SEFV). Through Apr 2024, wage growth led pricing; by 2026 the lines have crossed.

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Chart: Putra & CoSource: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES + CPI, May 2026Get the dataCreated with Datawrapper