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Winnebago’s revenue dropped 18% this quarter

Dec 20, 2024
The company pointed to a “challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Gabe LHeureux/Getty Images

Consumer sentiment rises again as inflation pressures ease

Nov 8, 2024
The University of Michigan survey was done before Election Day. Optimism about future economic conditions is at best level in nearly four years.

Strong consumer spending continues to bolster GDP

Oct 30, 2024
GDP grew at a healthy 2.8% pace. Current spending levels may provide a welcome "not too hot, not too cold" scenario for the Federal Reserve.
Consumer spending may be at a level that balances a healthy job market with stable prices.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Despite their feelings about the economy, consumers keep on spending

Oct 17, 2024
September retail sales excluding vehicles and gasoline were up 0.7%. But consumers report uncertainty about the election and how it will impact the economy.

Consumers just keep spending, fueling GDP growth

Jul 25, 2024
Second quarter gross domestic product growth was 2.8%. That’s double the GDP growth in the first quarter of the year.
What really drives GDP, especially the acceleration in the past few months, is consumers.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Buy now, pay later programs — useful tool or slippery slope?

Jun 18, 2024
At a time of high prices and interest rates, BNPL offerings are tempting. But they could lead vulnerable consumers into a debt spiral.

For public good, not for profit.

Consumers are starting to change behavior due to sustained higher prices, which have drained savings and pushed more people to rely on credit.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Dwindling savings and changing consumer tastes have hit Target hard

May 22, 2024
Meanwhile, its competitors are doing pretty well, including Walmart, where groceries account for 60% of sales.
Most of that extra cushion in people’s savings accounts from the pandemic is now gone, says Columbia professor Brett House.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Retail sales figures suggest consumers are pulling back

May 15, 2024
The latest figures, for April, suggest that rising prices, high interest rates and depleted pandemic savings may finally be weighing on spending.
In surveys, consumers report they’re increasingly worn down by inflation, said Morning Consult's Claire Tassin.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images