State of the US consumer: June 2024
Signs of financial stress emerge among middle-class Americans
Article
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3-min read
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28 June 2024
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Deloitte Center for Consumer Industry | Deloitte Center for Global Economic Research
Key insights about US consumers from Deloitte’s ConsumerSignals
Financial well-being sentiment holds steady, but improvements among higher-income households mask emerging weakness among average earners.
- Deloitte’s financial well-being index increased to 98.4 in May, up slightly from 95.9 a year ago (figure 1).
- While the index holds steady, financial well-being sentiment is diverging across income groups (figure 2).
- Since 2022, four of the six underlying metrics comprising the index have steadily decreased among middle-income Americans. Fewer middle-income respondents are confident about making upcoming payments, have money left over at the end of the month, are making large purchases they would typically make, or expect their finances to improve within the next year (explore Deloitte’s ConsumerSignals interactive dashboard for more insights).
- Discretionary spending intentions remain relatively weak as consumers continue to prioritize their savings (figure 3)—this focus on savings has corresponded with a rise in the percentage of respondents comfortable with their savings levels over the past year.
- Mirroring financial well-being sentiment, discretionary spending intentions have been particularly weak among middle-income Americans (figure 4).
Notes: In figure
1, Deloitte’s financial well-being index is measured across six dimensions of financial health: (1) confidence
in the ability to meet current financial obligations; (2) comfort with level of savings; (3) income relative
to spending; (4) delays in making large purchases; (5) assessment of current personal financial situation
compared to prior year; and (6) expectations of personal financial situation for the year ahead. Higher
index values represent stronger financial well-being. Spending intentions represent respondent’s estimated
spending for the next four weeks. In figures 3 and 4, discretionary categories include leisure travel,
restaurants, recreation and entertainment, electronics, clothing, personal care, household goods, education,
child care, and home furnishings. Non-discretionary categories include housing and utilities, transportation,
groceries, and health care. Spending intentions index values are represented by a three-month exponential
moving average.
Sources: Deloitte ConsumerSignals; US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sources: Deloitte ConsumerSignals; US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Deloitte Insights | www2.deloitte.com/insights
Sources: US Department of Commerce; US Bureau of Labor Statistics (all sourced through Haver Analytics); Deloitte analysis.
Deloitte Insights | www2.deloitte.com/insights
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BY
Anthony Waelter
United States
Stephen Rogers
United States