Cracks are showing in one of the main pillars keeping the economy out of a recession: resilient spending by U.S. households.
Consumer goods giants from PepsiCo to Kraft Heinz have described recently how the combination of high inflation and higher interest rates is hurting their lower-income customers.
It’s the culmination of everything getting more expensive amid high inflation―even if it’s not as bad as before―and the drag of higher interest rates because of more expensive credit card and other payments.
Remarkably resilient spending by U.S. consumers overall has been one of the main reasons the economy has avoided a recession, at least so far. Capitulation at the lower end of the spectrum could be the first crack for the economy.
“The lower income consumer in the U.S. is stretched,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said late last month when reporting better profit than expected, and “is strategizing a lot to make their budgets get to the end of the month. And that’s a consumer that is choosing what to buy, where to buy, and making a lot of choices.”
