Why is the price of lunch skyrocketing?
Workers returning to offices are running into a nasty surprise...the price of lunch has gone way up.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, menu prices have had the largest 12-month increase since 1981.
The payment company Square took a look at the prices of standard lunch items in big cities and found that the average prices of wraps is up 18 percent since last March. Sandwiches are up 14 percent and salads are up 11 percent.
Restaurants blame the increase on two main factors: The rising cost of both food and labor.
The restaurant industry was hit hard by the Great Resignation, with many workers in the service industry quitting to find jobs with better pay and benefits.
And the price of food has been hit hard by inflation. The U.N. food agency reports world food prices hit a record high in February, up more than 20% in a year.
The obvious solution is to pack your own lunch.
But as The Wall Street Journal reports prices at the grocery store are also going up, meaning those savings don’t stretch as far.
And don’t expect it to get better any time soon. Experts say an extended war in Ukraine could have a major impact on the price of grain, which is a necessary ingredient in so many of our lunchtime favorites.