State of the US consumer: September 2022

Financial sentiment has improved slightly among Americans in recent months. Easing of inflation concerns could be behind the trend

Key insights about US consumers from Deloitte’s State of the Consumer Tracker

Since May, the percentage of Americans concerned about their level of savings fell from a 2-year high of 62% to 49%. Over the same time period, the percentage concerned about their credit card debt decreased from 48% to 40% (figure 1).
The percentage of Americans delaying large purchases has also decreased since June—from 56% to 46% (figure 2).
Though inflation remains high (8.3% in August, figure 10), inflation concerns among Americans have been easing in recent months. After steadily climbing throughout most of 2022, the percentage of Americans concerned about rising prices for everyday purchases fell from 83% in June to 73% in August (figure 3).
Easing of inflation concerns is likely being driven by falling gas prices. Since June, the percentage of Americans citing higher gas prices (compared to the previous month) fell from 87% to 61%. Perceptions of rising grocery and clothing prices have also eased slightly (figure 4).
Consumer spending on durable goods went up 1.5% in July, the second straight month of strong growth (figure 5).

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Sources: Deloitte’s State of the Consumer Tracker; Haver Analytics; United States Department of Transportation; Deloitte economic analysis.

*Figure 2: Methodology note: Before September 2022, study respondents state perceptions of prices compared to the prior month.
*Figure 4: Less discretionary categories include housing, groceries, transportation, health care, clothing, household goods, personal care, childcare, education, and internet/data. More discretionary categories include recreation and entertainment, leisure travel, restaurants/takeout, electronics, and home furnishings.

Deloitte Insights | www2.deloitte.com/insights

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Sources: US Department of Commerce, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wall Street Journal (all sourced through Haver Analytics); Deloitte economic analysis.

Deloitte Insights | www2.deloitte.com/insights

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Acknowledgments

Topics in this article

Economics , Americas Economics , United States (U.S.) , Americas , Consumer Spending , US Economic Forecast

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