Consumers Under Pressure Across The Spectrum

Summary

• As the US and Canadian central banks declined to offer monetary easing yesterday, consumer confidence measures are already below the levels recorded in the past nine recessions.
• A raft of recent data shows households under increasing financial stress across all income levels.
• Delinquencies on credit card and auto loan debts from those making at least $150,000 annually have jumped almost 20% over the last two years.
• Last year, a record of nearly 5.0% of workers in 401(k) plans took a hardship distribution for financial emergencies, up from a pre-pandemic average of about 2.0%.

Images By Tang Ming Tung

As the US and Canadian central banks declined to offer monetary easing yesterday, consumer confidence measures are already below the levels recorded in the past nine recessions, including the periods surrounding 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the