Consumer spending continues to move fluidly across digital and physical channels, but groceries are emerging as one of the clearest signals of where financial pressure is reshaping consumer behavior. While grocery prices are often used as shorthand for inflation, grocery baskets themselves have not changed...
Gen Xers’ new round of penny-pinching could be bad news for consumer spending and the economy. Comprised of around 65 million individuals now age about 46-61, most in their prime earning years, the generational cohort spends more than any other age group. The typical Gen...
“Wage to Wallet™ Index: The Divided Recovery: Labor Economy Workers Face an Uncertain 2026” is a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence, WorkWhile and Ingo Payments. This month’s report examines the financial outlook of the Labor Economy—roughly 60 million U.S. employees who earn about $25 an hour...
Online retail is becoming a pressure valve for stressed U.S. households, and the evidence is showing up in how they pay at checkout. A new PYMNTS Intelligence report, “The New Checkout: Crimped Consumers Lean Into Online Retail and Digital Wallets,” finds that rising financial strain is pushing...
Most Americans probably don’t remember the exact inflation rate last year. But they remember that the footlong they once paid 5 dollars for is now between ten and fourteen bucks. They remember when a fast-food meal cost a lot less than a movie ticket. And...
A growing share of Americans look financially stable on paper yet remain one unexpected bill away from strain, according to PYMNTS Intelligence research that reframed household savings as a fragile, unevenly distributed buffer rather than a reliable safety net. That was the central takeaway from...
New Federal Reserve data shows U.S. household wealth reaching record levels last year. That figure hit $180 trillion during the third quarter of 2025, according to the Fed’s Financial Accounts report, released Friday (Jan. 9). “Household net worth increased by $6.1 trillion in the third...
Polymarket’s real-time prediction market data will soon be featured in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily and other Dow Jones consumer platforms. These offerings will follow the formation of an exclusive partnership between Polymarket and Dow Jones, which is a division of News Corp,...
The December 2025 update of the “Wage to Wallet™ Index” reveals an economy that is no longer moving in a single direction, but splitting along a decisive fault line shaped by liquidity access, income timing and perceived opportunity. Produced in collaboration with WorkWhile and Ingo Payments,...