consumer spending in the US up in January

**Dutchie** · 03-02-2009, 10:21 AM

According to our financial news, US consumer spending was up 0.6% in January for the first time in months.
Also - according to this site - your income rose by 0.4%.

Have you heard anything about this on your news - amidst all the doom and gloom about the economy?

**Cricketlegs** · 03-02-2009, 10:26 AM

Really all I do see is doom and gloom. Things may have improved in some areas but are falling in others.

I feel pretty sure that the other shoe has not dropped.

Get your house in order people, it is all you can do.

**warramra** · 03-02-2009, 11:17 AM

It went up, but only by a fraction of a percent. January is when a lot of people spend gift cards that they received for Christmas and at the end of the month some people were already getting tax refunds. I know there were probably people like ourselves that had some pent-up demand spending after the tax refund came. We put off getting a lot of necessary (but not immediate need) items until after our tax refund. We probably spent $250 more in February on clothing & shoes, sports equipment, etc. We also went out to eat for the 1st time in 4 months. Now that it is March, back to being miserly. I will forecast that consumer spending in February will also increase...but it isn't a long-term trend to get excited over. We'll see what happens in May & June, after tax season.

**rainbowgc** · 03-02-2009, 03:13 PM

Maybe people were hitting the after Christmas sales to put away for next year. We can always hope!

**lgw** · 03-02-2009, 03:55 PM

This consumer certainly wasn't spending. LOL

**Thevail** · 03-03-2009, 02:33 AM

Elementary statistics unfortunately apply to the "raise" in average income.

CAUTION GRIM NEWS>>CAUTION!

If people get laid off from a company..far more of those people are the ones who make lower wages.

Managers, senior employees, etc. are much less likely to lose their jobs.

Hence the people still employed tend to make higher wages than those who were layed off.

When you're talking massive layoffs of low wage workers..that shifts the balance of "average" pay upward.

Hence.."average" wages go up whenever a lot of lower waged workers are laid off.

ie..If there's only two guys left and one's the owner and he makes $200,000, and the other is the VP and he makes $100,000..the average wage for that company is $150,000.

But, if the boss ($200,000), the VP ($100,000), and 10 workers who each make ($30,000) are employed by the company..the "average" wage is only $50,000.