Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“For the last several years I have relied on real (inflation-adjusted) spending at fast food restaurants as a useful gauge of consumer sentiment. I began this during the pandemic recovery when the media were constantly telling us that people were struggling to make ends meet. While this is always true in a country with a weak social safety net and extreme income inequality, the question any serious person asks is whether it’s getting worse or better. I kept pointing to the data showing that, at least for those at the bottom, it seemed to be getting better. … In 2021, 2022, and 2023, real fast-food spending was growing at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent, considerably faster than the 2.9 percent growth rate in the decade prior to the pandemic. But spending largely stagnated in 2024. Real spending in December 2024 was actually 1.0 percent less than it had been in December of 2023. That stagnation has continued into 2025.” (10/02/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/10/02/the-fast-food-index-is-looking-bleak/