Inflation and the high cost of groceries has become a headline topic. The American Federal Trade Commission issued a report on March 21 2024 discussing the matter. See Feeding America in a Time of Crisis: FTC Staff Report on The United States Grocery Supply Chain and the COVID-19 Pandemic | Federal Trade Commission. Amongst a number of factors FTC staff identified higher profit margins under cover of the covid-19 pandemic as one factor explaining higher grocery prices.

Looking at the Canadian data, Statistics Canada grocery store profit margins did increase modestly above trend for the period after the declared end of the pandemic. See Figure 1 below.

Increased wages is a commonly understood factor that can increase costs leading to higher prices. As illustrated in Figure 2 below, hourly wages increased at a rate above trend based on the data since 2001. t was also accompanied by a modest increase of hourly wages in the industry. See Figure 2 below.

Supporting spreadsheets are here: