Latest / Wages and Prices with Fexingo: Cost of Living, Pay Raises, and Workers' Purchasing Power
How Raises Are Finally Beating the Cost of Eating Out
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising twist in the inflation story: after years of restaurant prices climbing faster than paychecks, the gap has finally flipped. Using the latest data from July 2026 — average hourly earnings up 2.4 percent year-over-year while food-away-from-home inflation has cooled to 1.8 percent — they explain why the cost of eating out is now rising slower than wages. They break down the forces behind the shift, from easing food commodity costs to a cooling labor market that's slowing menu price hikes. They also tackle the tricky distinction between…
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