With rising incomes, the share of expenditures for food products declines. The resulting shift in expenditures affects demand patterns and employment structures.

The poorer is a family, the greater is the proportion of the total outgo which must be used for food... The proportion of the outgo used for food, other things being equal, is the best measure of the material standard of living of a population.

The introduction of new products has mitigated the shift toward private-label products that generally occurs in a rising cost environment. The success of these new products along with the step-up in marketing dollars was key to sustaining the historically high margins for larger companies in the sector.

Consumption continues to rise on higher farm incomes, rising employment and increasing consumer loans. Still, rising material costs slowed construction.

The recovery in employment and incomes should continue bolstering consumption ahead.

My hope is that flexible working and varying shift patterns will give workers a taste for idling and that they will gradually demand greater reductions in the length of the working week.