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The average annual percentage rate (APR) on credit cards nearly doubled to 22.8 percent in 2023 from 12.9 percent in 2013, costing consumers around $25 billion in interest fees last year, according to a new analysis by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The average APR hit the highest level on record at the end of last year, according to the bureau’s analysis of data from the Federal Reserve, which started tracking it in 1994. The surge in the overall average APR comes as credit card debt has hit an all time high. U.S. credit card debt topped $1.1 trillion...

Large US banks reported mixed results Friday, dented by exceptional costs connected to job cuts and to replenishing a federal fund tapped during last year’s crisis involving midsized lenders. But while consumer credit quality has diminished somewhat, executives continued to describe a relatively solid US economy, with talk of a recession replaced by a “soft landing” of slower growth. “We think the soft landing is a core thesis,” Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on a conference call with analysts, adding that consumers are “still in the game” even as consumption has shifted from retail goods to going...

As inflation continues to take a toll on consumers’ wallets, a surprising sentiment is emerging – more than a third of consumers, including new homeowners, are willing to embrace a recession if it brings down soaring prices. This sentiment is revealed in a recent survey conducted by Morning Consult, shedding light on the frustrations of individuals grappling with the impact of prolonged inflation. With prices on the rise for various goods and services due to inflationary pressures, consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated. The Morning Consult survey indicates that a significant portion, 37%, expressed their willingness to endure a recession if...

The auto industry’s push to boost sales of electric vehicles is running into a cold, hard reality: Buyers’ interest in these models is proving shallower than expected. While EV sales continue to grow—rising 51% this year through September—the rate has slowed from a year earlier and unsold inventory is starting to pile up for some brands. Some car companies, such as Ford Motor and Toyota Motor, are tempering their expectations for EVs and shifting more resources into hybrids, which have been drawing consumers at a faster clip. The first wave of buyers willing to pay a premium for a battery-powered...

Trevor Loudon wrote an article that each and every one of us should read and take note of: Intifada USA? American Radicals Build Ties to “Palestinian” Revolutionaries. I agree completely with Trevor when he says that 2015 could usher in chaos, unrest and violence as we have not seen in our lifetime. The Communists are now joining hands in America with the Radical Islamists, forming an American Intifada – an uprising, resistance, revolt. They are using racism as the building blocks and their hate for America as the glue to forward massive havoc and violence in our streets. The riots...

The growth of the U.S. economy in the second quarter was revised lower on Wednesday, as weaker business spending more than offset stronger consumer spending. The government said that gross domestic product grew at a 2.1 percent annual pace in the the three months from April through June. The first estimate had the economy growing 2.4 percent in the quarter. Even after the downward revision, the economy is still growing faster than what many economists consider its long-run potential. Officials at the Federal Reserve have said that they thin the economy needs to grow by less than potential—which they estimate...

Does “Made in America” Still Matter to Consumers?Do American citizens care where their products come from? Well, it depends on who you ask.Over the past few decades, the importance of “Made in America”—labels on products indicating production was done in the U.S.—has ebbed and flowed. As China has grown into the United States’ economic rival and geopolitical adversary, the distinction between American-made and Chinese-made has resurfaced, even as some products have been mislabeled or locally produced but Chinese-owned.How do people currently feel? This chart uses survey responses from May 2023 out of Morning Consult, in which a representative sample of...

Powered by small business owners and union workers alike, the trucking industry is on a collision course with the Democrat Party over federal and local efforts to phase out diesel rigs and push the shipping industry to electric vehicles. The latest strike came a few weeks ago when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new tailpipe emissions goals that could require up to two-thirds of new vehciles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be battery-powered electric vehicles. A top executive of one of the country’s largest trucking companies declared Tuesday that EPA's proposed new regulations on carbon emission are...

Many corporations are putting progressive activists and their dangerous agendas ahead of customers. They'll only succeed if we look the other way.

Consumer confidence took a turn for the worse in February with a sharp rise in pessimism about economic conditions in the months ahead. The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell to 102.9 in February from a downwardly revised January reading of 106.0, Economists had forecast an increase to 108.5 after the initial January reading of 107.1. The measure of consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions actually improved to 152.8 from 151.1 last month as a rising share who said jobs were plentiful offset a deteriorating view of current business conditions.

A November slowdown in inflation could give consumers relief both from rising prices and rapidly rising interest rates. Consumer price index (CPI) data released Tuesday by the Labor Department still showed inflation near 40-year highs. But a slower pace of price growth may help Americans catch a break from more than a year of rapid inflation, all while giving the Federal Reserve room to hike interest rates at a slower pace. “Cooling inflation will boost the markets and take pressure off the Fed for raising rates, but most importantly this spells real relief starting for Americans whose finances have been...

Consumers spent a record amount of money on online purchases on Black Friday, surpassing $9 billion, according to Adobe Analytics data. Adobe found that $9.12 billion was spent on Friday, marking a 2.3 percent rise year over year. Electronics sales were a large driver of the increase, with such online sales up 221 percent from the average day in October. Items such as audio equipment, toys and exercise equipment also sold well, with sales of each up more than 200 percent from an average day last month.

U.S. households expect the Republican Party will win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to a survey of consumers from the University of Michigan. The survey, conducted by the same outfit that measures one of the most widely followed measures of consumer sentiment, did not ask consumers which party they favored. Instead, it asked which party they expected to win. Republicans came out ahead by significant margins among consumers across all income, education, and age groups.

New Yorkers are feeling more optimistic about the economy, according to a new Siena College poll released Wednesday, Sept. 14. The New York State Index of Consumer Sentiment was up 9.1 points to 70.8 in the third quarter of 2022, the poll found. That’s 12.6 points above the nation’s Index of 58.2. The current index rose nearly 12 points from the previous quarter to 64.1 and the future index increased nearly eight points from 67.6 to 75.2, researchers found. Future confidence in the state is 17.2 points higher than the nation’s 58.0. “New Yorkers’ collective sentiment continues to outpace the...

A new nationwide survey from Consumer Reports shows that range anxiety and cost are the primary factors holding back consumers from purchasing an electric vehicle. Only 14 pct of respondents said they would definitely buy an EV, not enough to support a vibrant used EV market. Consumer Reports recently released the results of its nationally representative survey of 8,027 American adults on their views towards electric vehicles. Here were the major takeaways:On buying/leasing an EV: Fourteen percent of respondents said they “would definitely buy or lease an electric-only vehicle”, over half (57%) said they would consider/seriously consider it and more...

Roaring inflation is tanking Americans' confidence in the economy.. U.S. consumer confidence tanked in early June, reaching the lowest level ever recorded as soaring inflation batters Americans' budgets and fuels concerns for the economy at large. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index released Friday shows the index plunged to 50 this month, a 14.4% drop from May and the lowest reading since the survey began in the late 1970s. ... The survey indicated declines in every component, reflecting a bleak vision from respondents: The year-ahead outlook tumbled 24%, while Americans' assessments of their personal financial situations worsened by 20%....

The COVID policies promoted by Dr. Fauci, the World Health Organization, CDC and the majority of influential public health “experts” had devastating consequences, according to a new analysis published by Nature. The report suggests that over 75 million people have been thrown into poverty, defined as making less than $1.90 US per day, than were expected before the pandemic response started. This graphic shows how previous expectations were for global poverty rates to decline, only for the trends to completely reverse once lockdowns got underway: ... Income losses were also dramatic across all demographics, but especially targeted lower earning workers....

(Reuters) - Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled in midday trading on Tuesday as a sharp drop in consumer confidence brought to the fore growth risks from rising inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 shed the initial gains from a rise in bank shares as the latest batch of economic data raised doubts on the U.S. economy’s resilience to withstand hefty interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The consumer confidence index dropped 4.5 points to a reading of 98.7 in June, a Conference Board survey showed, as consumers anticipated economic growth would weaken significantly in the...

St. Louis Fed President Bullard made a remark the other day that consumers are healthy so a recession is unlikely. Consumers are healthy? It is true that the US U-3 uemployment rate is low (3.6% versus 14.70% in April 2020 thanks to government shutdowns over Covid). But even though unemployment is low, consumer sentiment is at its lowest point since 1977. Generally, consumer sentiment is high when unemployment is low, but not this time around. Currently, inflation is at the highest level since March 1980 even though consumer sentiment bottomed-out in April 1980. Here is my chart showing that REAL...

It took a while and trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus to recover from Covid-era economic lockdowns, but now that the monetary stimulus is being withdrawn, the economy is stalling. If you look at the chart below, you can see that “The Thrill Is Gone” from monetary and fiscal stimulus. And The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell below 100 as M2 Money Stock YoY returns to pre-Covid levels. You are gonna have to face it, we’re addicted to gov (stimulus).