Call it status quo — and maybe a sense of ennui? The latest, preliminary readings of consumer sentiment for the month of March, issued Friday (March 15) by the University of Michigan, found that things are little changed. The latest calculation came in at 76.5...
We may have to wait a bit longer for rate cuts. And for the U.S. consumer, inflation’s a stubborn fact of life — volatile, to be sure — and it seems like when one category of spending becomes more manageable, others become more expensive. In...
Consumers have a stable short-term inflation outlook but a cautious view for the medium to long term. While near-term inflation expectations are steady at 3.0%, there’s a slight increase in inflation concerns for three to five years ahead, according to the February 2024 Survey of...
Healthcare and government employment led the U.S. economy’s job gains in February. These sectors led the pack as total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 275,000 in February, topping the average monthly gain of 230,000 over the previous 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a Friday (March...
For merchants, reliant upon consumer spending — and credit as a way to enable that spending — the warning signals are flashing. The Fed’s latest reading on consumer credit, known as the G.19 report, the headline numbers show that individuals’ and households’ total outstanding credit...
The U.S. Census Bureau revised its wholesale inventories estimate for January downward Wednesday (March 6). Total inventories dipped 0.3% in January compared with December 2023, rather than the drop of 0.1% the agency reported earlier in an advanced estimate, the Census Bureau said in a Wednesday press release....
Americans who switch jobs are seeing larger raises than workers who stay put. That’s according to the February edition of ADP’s National Employment Report, which showed 7.6% year-over-year pay gains for people who have changed jobs, marking the first increase since November 2022. For people staying with...
The rising costs of groceries continue to pressure U.S. consumers to reconsider how they shop — and what they shop for. As PYMNTS Intelligence reported last year, when stocking their pantries, more consumers are scratching nonessential food items from their shopping lists, regardless of their income levels....
Recent economic data from this week give ammunition to the argument that paying for groceries over time will be a long-standing trend. As noted in this space, PCE data released Thursday (Feb. 29) noted that inflation is slowing, at least overall. But food is pricier...
