1980 AGRICULTURE OUTLOOK - Personal Income - Finance Facts - Consumer Confidence - Capital Spending Plans - Existing Home Sales - Consumer Installment Credit

Sep 21, 2026

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Forecasts for 1980 highlight rising food prices and changing farm profitability, driven largely by higher marketing costs and price increases in key sectors. Farm net income is expected to fall versus 1979 as expenses track inflation and fuel and fertilizer costs surge. The text also covers personal income changes, consumer confidence levels and buying plans, capital spending projections for business investment, existing home sales trends and median prices, and consumer installment credit balances and components at end-December 1979.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

PERSONAL INCOME

FINANCE FACTS

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

CAPITAL SPENDING PLANS

EXISTING HOME SALES

CONSUMER INSTALLMENT CREDIT

Any or all the material in this publication may be quoted or reproduced. 1980 AGRICULTURE OUTLOOK Rise in food prices is expected to be about 8%in 1980 compared toprojected 10%rate of inflation,according to U.S.Department of Agricul-ture.Most of increase in food prices stems from rising marketing costs.Farm price of food is expected to average about 1%higher in 1980 than1979,rising marketing costs are expected to account for 75%of food priceincreases.Greatest price increases are for food at restaurants,probablyincreasing about 10%,reflecting higher service costs.Food consumedaway from home accounts for about 30%of average urban family's foodbudget. Net farm incomes are expected to decline in 1980 from 1979 level.Totalfarm cash receipts are expected to rise 2 or 3%,mostly from crop sales,whose prices are expected to be higher than average.Production ex-penses in 1980 will likely continue up at same rate as general inflation.Rapid price increases are expected in fuels(33%or more)and fertilizers.Consequently,net income of farm operators may decline from about $32billion in 1979 to about $25 billion in 1980. Strong export demand for wheat has led to higher wheat prices,despitelarge U.S.crop,largely because of 29%reduction in USSR's wheat crop.(All export estimates are pre-embargo projections.)Exports for 1979-80season are projected at 1.4 billion bushels,up 17%.Prices are expected toaverage $3.75 per bushel,up from $2.94 last year.Wheat acreage isexpected to increase about 10%,production should rise by less than 10%as yield will likely decline from unusually high yields of 1978-79. # PERSONAL INCOME Personal income increased $11.4 billion in January to seasonally ad-justed annual rate of $2,035.6 billion,according to U.S.Department ofCommerce.Personal outlays increased $19.8 billion to $1,665.5 billion.Increase in personal income in January was affected by three specialfactors:increase in minimum wage;government payments of specialenergy allowances;and increase in social security taxable wage base.Onnet,these factors added $4.1 billion to personal income. Private wages and salaries increased $4.3 billion in January,comparedwith $10.7 billion in December.Commodity-producing industries'payrolls increased $2.0 billion,compared with $6.4 billion.Distributiveindustries'payrolls increased $1.9 billion,compared with $0.5 billion.Service industries'payrolls increased $0.5 billion,compared with $3.8billion.Government wages and salaries increased $1.8 billion in January,compared with $0.6 billion in December.Proprietors'income declined inJanuary. # FINANCE FACTS A Monthly Publication on Consumer Financial Behavior MARCH 1980 Selected Componentsof Personal Income(Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates) FINANCE FACTS MARCH 1980 Median Sales Price of Existing Single Family Homes For the United Statesand Each Pegion,December 1979 ## CONSUMER CONFIDENCE Consumer confidence continues to be surprisingly strong in the face ofsigns of weakness in U.S.economy,The Conference Board reports.TheConference Boards Consumer Confidence Index(1969-1970=100)stoodat 83.5 in December,drop of only 1.6 points from November.The BuyingPlans Index lost 8points in December,closing at 108.3.Some 26.4%labelpresent business conditions as good,up 1 point from November.About22%say that jobs are “plentiful,”same figure posted in November.Consumers are displaying some uncertainty about future course of theeconomy.About 20%look for business conditions to worsen in next sixmonths,up slightly from November.Some 7.1%look for their incomes todecline,up from 6.2%in November.Over 30%expect jobs to grow lessplentifully in the next six months,up from less than 28%. Buying plans were down virtually across the board in December.Some 7.9%of families expect to buy new or used automobile during next sixmonths,down from 8.2%in November.Home-buying plans dipped from 3.8%to 3.4%.Plans to buy major appliances fell slightly,31.0%inDecember compared with 31.7%i

FAQs

What is the expected trend for 1980 food prices and what drives the increase?

Food prices are expected to rise about 8% in 1980 versus a projected 10% inflation rate. Most of the increase stems from higher marketing costs, which are expected to account for about 75% of the food price increases.

How are farm net incomes expected to change in 1980 compared with 1979?

Net farm incomes are expected to decline in 1980 from the 1979 level. The text links the drop to rising production expenses and stronger increases in fuels and fertilizers, with net income potentially falling from about $32 billion to about $25 billion.

What do the document’s data say about consumer confidence in December?

Consumer confidence is described as surprisingly strong despite signs of economic weakness. The Consumer Confidence Index stood at 83.5 in December, and the Buying Plans Index declined to 108.3, with varying shares expecting worsened business conditions or income declines.

Sep 21, 2026

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