(NewsNation) — It now takes fewer hours of work to afford a week’s worth of groceries than it did five years ago, according to a report by MarketWatch, a Dow Jones company that provides financial analyses and stock market data.
Groceries are now more affordable than they were prepandemic, but consumers may still not notice the difference in their wallets.
The researchers reviewed wage and inflation data that shows how the price of food relative to wages has changed over time. Postpandemic food costs rose substantially, but wages have “more than caught up” with prices, the analysis found.
“It’s easier for the average American worker to put food on the table than it was a couple of years ago,” MarketWatch researchers said.
The data factored in rising wages compared to grocery costs. So, even though grocery prices have risen, so has a worker’s paycheck.
However, not everyone has seen a wage increase, and the pandemic has caused a “long-lasting case of sticker shock for consumers,” the report said, given that the absolute prices of goods — the prices you pay for each item — are still higher than they were before.
Consumers may not notice much of a difference in their pockets because the impact of yearslong price increases “will reverberate for years,” MarketWatch said.