Top 10 charts to monitor in 2023

As we start the new year amid elevated inflation and the threat of a recession, FCC Economics is highlighting ten charts that help make sense of the economic environment for farm operations, agribusinesses and food processors.

Inflation
This should surprise nobody. Last year’s inflation hit monthly highs not seen in decades, with headline inflation at 6.8% year-over-year (YoY) in November. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.4% over the same timeframe. Higher prices for food and gasoline (which rose 11.4% and 13.7% year-over-year, respectively) drove much of the overall inflation as of March 2021 and throughout 2022 (Figure 1).