What March's inflation numbers mean for the restaurant industry

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, released Wednesday morning, shows inflation is up 5% year-over-year, and 0.1% versus last month’s numbers. This marks the lowest CPI number since May 2021, which was also at 5%.

The biggest takeaway from the report is that food-away-from-home prices are up 8.8% year-over-year, increasing by 0.6% on the month. Broken down by segment, limited-service menu prices are up 7.9% year-over-year (0.5% month-over-month), while full-service prices are 8% higher versus March 2022 (0.7% month-over-month).