Retail observations

[progree]

4. "Most Americans can't afford life anymore -- and they just don't matter to the economy like they once did"

Most Americans can’t afford life anymore — and they just don’t matter to the economy like they once did, MarketWatch 3/7/25

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/most-americans-can-t-afford-life-anymore-and-they-just-don-t-matter-to-the-economy-like-they-once-did/ar-AA1Atodl

. . . While each individual observation about low- and middle-income Americans no longer spending like they did in the past — buying fewer burgers (link) and pizzas (link), holding onto their cars longer (link), trading down to less expensive vacations (link)— may seem innocuous, together they add up to an overall sense that spending by all but the wealthiest has dropped.

. . . The bottom 90% of earners — those who make less than $250,000 a year — are now responsible for 50.3% of all consumer spending in the country, data from Moody’s Analytics show. Thirty years ago, they accounted for 64% of U.S. spending. As the rich make up an increasing share of the U.S. economy, bolstering overall consumer spending, middle- and low-income Americans cut their spending from fall 2023 to fall 2024, Moody’s found.

. . . A whopping 55% of those in the bottom third on the American income scale say they are doing worse than they were five years ago, a survey of consumer sentiment shows.

. . . Frick noted that the inflation rate for necessities is about twice as high as overall inflation.

. . . The percentage of car-loan payments that are more than 90 days past due has risen to the highest level in at least eight years among Americans in the lowest income bracket, data from the New York Federal Reserve shows.

Americans Fall Behind on Car Payments at Highest Rate in Decades https://www.democraticunderground.com/111699838

My summary of how the economy wasn't working out for a lot of people even though a lot of us were saying, pre-election, that the economy was great -- look at the jobs numbers, and inflation is below 3% and wages are keeping up and blah-de-blah https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143390474#post22

I haven't been shopping for anything since Feb 27, so I can't report on any recent trends.