ACTV - Getting Some Answers From The U.S. Consumer Puzzle
2024-05-09 12:26:00 ET
Summary
- The US growth story remains driven by consumer resilience.
- High income households are in a great financial position, but those on lower incomes are feeling intensifying stress.
- How these competing stories play out will be key to the growth outlook for the rest of the year and the prospect of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
It's all about the high-earning consumer
The remarkable resilience of the US economy to high interest rates and tight credit conditions has to be admired. But now we're starting to see signs of softening. Business surveys have weakened notably, consumer confidence is moderating, and first-quarter GDP growth was weaker than expected, although that was mainly due to a negative contribution from inventories and net trade....
Getting Some Answers From The U.S. Consumer Puzzle