As inflation bites and America’s mood darkens, higher-income consumers are cutting back, too

R&I NV – OP TRUNCATED – From the Author Guides: “When quoting an article please limit yourself to no more than 20 lines or less than half the article length (which ever is less).”

With as much as 60% of U.S. consumers living paycheck to paycheck, it’s not a surprise to see that the spending cutbacks have started. Even with a strong job market and wage gains, as well as Covid stimulus savings, pricing spikes in core spending categories including food, gas and shelter are leading more Americans to mind their pocketbooks closely.

A new survey from CNBC and Momentive finds rising concerns about inflation and the risk of recession, and Americans saying not only have they’ve started buying less but will be buying less across more categories if inflation persists. But these financial stress points are not limited to lower income consumers. The survey finds American with incomes of at least $100,000 saying they’ve cut back on spending, or may soon do so, in numbers that are not far off the decisions being made by lower income groups.

Lower-income households are the most at risk, and they are the ones most likely to be making unwelcome tradeoffs to make their money stretch as far as it did just a few months ago, according to the survey results. They are also clearly experiencing more financially anxiety, according to the survey, with 57% of Americans with income under $50,000 saying they are under more stress than a year ago, versus 45% of those with incomes of $100,000 or more. The 68% of high-income consumers who said they are worried higher prices will force them to rethink financial decisions is significantly lower than the 82% of Americans with income of $50,000 or less who told the survey this, but it is still a majority.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/as-inflation-bites-higher-income-consumers-are-cutting-back-too.html

Scut FarKus

Article URL : https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/as-inflation-bites-higher-income-consumers-are-cutting-back-too.html

Share this:

Like this: