GETTING BEEF: AMERICANS NEED TO WORK 25% LONGER TO BUY GROUND BEEF SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE

Key Points:

  • As of February 2023, the most recent data on the price of beef, the average worker needs to work for 8 minutes and 40 seconds in order to pay for a pound of ground beef.
  • One year ago, a pound of ground beef cost a worker 8 minutes and 17 seconds worth of wages. That’s around 5% less than they need to spend now.
  • When Biden took office in January 2021, a pound of ground beef cost a worker 6 minutes and 55 seconds worth of wages. That’s around 5% less than they need to spend now.
  • The rising price in terms of hourly wages reflects two trends. One is the stagnation of hourly wages. The other is the rising price of food, in dollar terms.
  • Overall, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices in March increased 5.0% in the last year and food prices increased 8.5%.

Economist Corner

Memorial Day weekend is a chance for many American families to gather, throw burgers on the grill, and look forward to summer and more time together. But as the temperatures rise and Americans fire up those grills, inflation is fueling the flames of rising food costs, including the price of ground beef, and forcing Americans to make tough choices ahead of those family get-togethers. In August 2022, the cost of a pound of ground beef in terms of time spent at work reached the highest level on record at 8 minutes and 56 seconds – a 37% increase since 2006 when data on hourly wages for all private workers began.