Posted on 06/01/2015 6:27:06 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected spending would rise 0.2% in April and income would climb 0.3%.
Consumer spending generates more than two-thirds of U.S. economic output, and is a key driver of growth. But outlays slowed during a harsh winter and have yet to show signs of a sustained pickup despite better weather, solid job creation and gasoline prices that remain well below levels from a year ago.
Indeed, consumer confidence appears to have softened. The University of Michigan final May sentiment index, out last week, came in at a six-month low.
Monday’s report showed spending on services increased 0.2% in April from the prior month, but spending on goods fell 0.5%.
When adjusted for inflation, overall consumer spending was flat in April.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
My wife was not surveyed.
My wife was not surveyed.
Unexpected
All these economic and consumer ‘confidence’ measuring sticks start to become silly. My economic ‘outlook’ doesn’t change month to month. People don’t suddenly think “Wow, I feel so much better about the economy than 2 weeks ago”! My consumer spending is ‘up’ alright. I’m spending more on food, gasoline, and utilities. I guess it’s just ‘confidence’.
Great Depression II continues.
Translation: Obama’s misery index sucks even more.
Likely to be revised down..
Earth to Wall Street Journal, earth to Wall Street Journal, and other media sycophants. Winter is over; repeat, winter is over. There must be another reason for nearly 7 years of dismal economic performance. Let me give you a hint:.......Obama.
Government subsidized consumer spending generates nothing, it destroys.
In a capitalist economy consumer spending is a valid indicator of well-being. In a socialist economy it represents wealth stolen from investments in growth.
Gas is down food is way up.
Actually, everything is way up except gas and wages.
My eyes, ears, and other senses show me:
1) Prices of the essential required for living (food, utilities, health care, auto repair) are escalating.
2) Taxes have been and continue to go up. My local county just raised is rates after enjoying a huge increase in revenue last year due to reassessing.
3) Shopping centers around town have vacancy rates from 20% to 100%. Many private sector commercial properties are boarded up. The only new non-residential construction seems to be related to education, government, or medical buildings. None of these expanding institutions seem interested in conserving resources by converting empty offices buildings, warehouses, factories, or shopping centers to new uses.
4) Every few weeks one of the major employers in the region announces further job cutbacks or the closure of facilities.
5) Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other thrift stores are popping up seemingly everywhere, including the strip centers in the nicer areas of town.
6) The number of “for sale” signs in the yards of houses is at least 4 times what is was when I came to this town 30 years ago. In addition, there are few spec houses being built by developers.
7) People are not maintaining homes as they once did. Even in the “best” neighborhoods lawns look scraggly, bushes are not trimmed, paint peels on siding, sidewalks and driveways have huge cracks.
8) The meat counter at the grocery story is less than half the size it was a few years ago. For most people beef is unaffordable.
9) Neighbors seeking jobs tell me the only jobs in the area are part time and temporary jobs with no benefits.
10) New medical offices are proliferating around town as the two major hospitals in the area battle for market share. The new facilities have huge open spaces to be heated and cooled, elaborate architectural details, modern high tech equipment, expensive artwork on the walls, and many clerical and administrative employees who seem to have no role in actually providing medical care. Meanwhile, in five years the cost of an office visit to my primary care physician has risen from $80 to almost $200. In addition, the small hospitals in nearby rural counties have been closed, forcing residents of those communities to drive 50 to 100 miles to obtain medical care.
11) Restaurants are finding it impossible to hold the cost of lunch below $10 and dinner below $20. It seems whenever a chain or local restaurant breaks these psychological price barriers, the restaurant either drops prices while lowering the quality and quantity of food or it goes out of business. The exceptions to this rule are the local ethnic restaurants (Mexican, Chinese, Thai, El Salvadoran) staffed by recent immigrants who speak almost no English. Likely these are illegals being paid far below the minimum wage.
12) The local press reports almost no local crime. Friends who work at the local university tell me groups of youths from off campus roam freely on the grounds, engaging in petty theft. The incidence of rapes by off campus individuals breaking into the dorms is skyrocketing as is muggings on campus by non-university youth. None of this crime is making the paper or local broadcast news. A 400 person “flash mob” by youth from the projects in the upscale restaurant district received virtually no coverage even though the youth walked into restaurants and intimidated diners. Crime, even violent crime, at the mall is not reported. Youth gangs freely roam the mall and its parking lots at night and on weekends engaging in shoplifting, car theft, muggings, and simple intimidation of shoppers. I haven’t been to the mall in years.
13) Streets and roads are poorly maintained, filled with cracks and potholes, despite rising taxes.
14) Republicans representing me in Congress, state government, and local government are less and less even making the pretense of adhering to conservative values. They happily vote for every big money spending program. They cater to special interests. They ignore letters and calls regarding social issues. They no longer hold public town hall meetings. If they do anything they opt for “virtual” town hall meetings where they can control the questions and script the answers. Plus, they seem more intent on working with Democrats than advancing any alternative agenda.
15) My parents, aunts and uncles saved for retirement over their working lives buying government insured bank CD’s paying 6-7%. They enjoyed a comfortable, modest, middle class retirement on the interest income from those CD’s, social security, and any small private pensions they might have. Today, bank CD’s pay 1%, less than half the government reported inflation rate and well below the real 8-10% inflation rate on food, medical care, taxes, and other essential expenditures.
16) The pews in my mainline protestant church are thinly populated and the message from the pulpit is politically correct and devoid of spiritual meaning.
17) People dress sloppily and seem unhappy. When I came to town 30 years ago people smiled and greeted strangers they passed. Today people avoid eye contact while scanning the area around them warily as though looking for danger.
My senses tell me the economy is bad and the government figures are lies. My senses tell me the morale of the productive citizens is at an all time low for the span of my lifetime. My senses tell me the culture is declining rapidly. My senses tell me the politicians who represent me are focused on lining their pockets, massaging their egos, and climbing the power ladder instead of representing the interests of the community and nation. My senses tell me there has been plenty of change for the worse, but no hope, in this Obama era of hope and change.
I rely on my senses, not government statistics, politicians, the media, or religious leaders to show me the truth.
Its hard to spend when you are out of work, have no money and credit cards maxed out. That is the American consumer.
Even with all those tax refunds?
Maybe Americans are becoming better shoppers and trying to save some $’s.
It is amazing how much money can be saved by using the internet and making deals instead of buying the up front price.
My wife and I convert big name cell phone provider/service customers all the time to Trac Fone for big savings.
We see more and more people we know shopping @ Walmart or Costco, who swore they would never shop at these stores.
Rush had an article about the failure to launch generation not spending. May be due to their parents finally cutting
them off financially.
So, this might not be bad news.
No “Unexpectedly” in the headline for dear homosexual comrade muslim leader?
All of that empty commercial space on our main street, which is increasing all of the time, tells me the same thing.
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