Restaurant Menu Prices Register Their Highest Sequential Increase in Nearly Two Years

This article first appeared in National Restaurant News.

The Consumer Price Index report for February increased 2.8% year-over-year, compared to 3% in January, showing signs of cooling and driven largely by a 4% drop in airline fares.

Despite significant increases in egg prices (up nearly 60% year-over-year) driven by the ongoing outbreak of bird flu, the pace of food inflation overall was up 0.2% month-over-month in February, versus 0.4% in January, and 0.3% in December, according to Wednesday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Compared to February 2024, the food category overall was up 2.6%, with food-away-from home (restaurants) up 3.7% year-over-year and food-at-home (grocery/supermarket) prices up 1.9% year-over-year. Month-over-month, menu prices rose 0.4% — their sharpest increase since June — while grocery prices were flat.

Read the full article in National Restaurant News.