MacroSavvy™

Spending letup persists—adjusting for an early Easter

Adjusting for the impact of an early Easter this year, consumers’ retail spending through March remains slower than the strong November-December holiday period. The slowdown is in retail sales excluding autos, fuel, and restaurant. Taking a toll on sales are higher…


Price pressures add to headwinds, weigh on retail

The economic headwinds appear to be gaining strength with price inflation edging higher through early 2018 as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The brunt of the headwinds likely will be felt by the (retail) goods sector of the economy, where…


Weaker job gains may weigh on outlook

Job gains are on a slowing trend through early 2018—except for a strong February—and becoming further concentrated in the West and Southeast. The slowing trend is the result of weakness in certain markets as much as the result of a tight…


Gen X and homegoods are key to jump in confidence

Consumers’ spending confidence jumped in March—lifted mostly by Gen X consumers with a college degree, and strong plans to spend in homegoods categories. Whether the confidence pickup actually revives the recent spending trend (see more here) will depend, however, on the…



Homegoods will buck letup in confidence to spend

Overall consumer confidence to spend continues to move sideways, but the homegoods category will be the exception benefiting from improved spending plans from Millennials to Boomers. That’s the takeaway from the latest spending confidence data through February. The data otherwise support…