Lower Gas Prices
Lower gas prices are supportive of restaurant spending into year-end.
Filling up is now as cheap as it was in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine touched off a global energy crisis. AAA reported that the average nationwide price of a gallon of regular Wednesday was $3.50, and gas price tracking company GasBuddy projected it could drop below $3 by Christmas. And all of that relief probably helped drive robust shopping over Thanksgiving weekend.
How expensive is food delivery?
If you want a Big Mac delivered these days, be prepared to pay double what it would cost to get it yourself. Will consumers give up or slow the delivery habit?
According to a new survey of third-party delivery prices by personal finance site Self Financial, McDonald’s costs nearly 100% more on average when delivered rather than ordered in the restaurant. Self’s research, conducted in April, consisted of placing the same McDonald’s order—a Quarter Pounder meal, a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meal, a regular fry, and a regular Coke—in the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S.
JOLTS Confirm slowing trends in place
