Consumer spending: Here are the top reports to follow

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Who is spending, and who is cutting back?

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You’re a consumer. How do you feel about spending these days? Are you sticking to a strict budget, or do you feel like you’ve got some wiggle room to splurge a bit? Here’s another question: Are you part of the consumer norm or an outlier? And does it matter?

In a word, yes. Why? Because you’re not just a consumer; you’re an investor saving for your future. And if you’re still in the workforce, you’re an employee or business owner whose income is tied—directly or indirectly—to other consumers.

Whatever the greatest masses of consumers are doing—whether it’s pinching pennies or spending—reflects the health of the economy. It can also be a personal precursor of what might lie ahead, whether it’s for you or some friends and family.

Tracking consumer spending is a science for folks at the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), but it doesn’t have to overwhelm those who aren’t as number- or process-oriented. After all, these government agencies are doing all the heavy mathematical lifting, so all you have to do is figure out how it applies to you.

Let’s start with the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This U.S. federal agency bills itself as one of the world’s leading statistical agencies; when it speaks, people listen. The bureau’s mission is to give you, me, businesses, governmental authorities, and anyone else who cares a timely and relevant grasp on what is making the U.S. economy tick—or not.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, commonly called the PCE, is among the most-watched statistics the BEA produces each month. It’s a measure of personal spending (hence the name) or, as they call it, a “basket of consumer goods and services.” The index reading changes over each four-week period and reflects whether prices are inflating or deflating.

Consumer spending accounts for nearly two-thirds of economic growth. The PCE indicates how and where consumers are spending their hard-earned dollars, as well as whether they’re keeping up with revolving and installment credit payments. We learned during the pandemic, for example, that consumers were shifting more money toward furniture stores than clothing stores, and that people swapped dining-out dollars for at-home meals and homemade bread.

In an inflationary environment, the PCE will show how consumers are substituting higher-priced items with lower-priced ones, or how a sharp increase in food or energy prices might have affected discretionary spending overall.

The PCE is a lagging indicator—it tells us what the cost of, say, eggs was last month, but not what they cost today—but it’s a key factor in calculating gross domestic product (GDP). It’s the Fed’s favorite tool to gauge inflation and deflation, and ultimately, monetary policy.

Why does that matter to the average consumer? The market uses monetary policy and inflation trends to set interest rates, from the mortgage on your home to the interest you pay on auto loans and credit cards. Higher interest rates can be a killer for consumer and business spending.

Household borrowing and debt is another consumer spending trend worth watching. The New York Federal Reserve’s Consumer Credit Panel tracks payment and delinquency data on mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and auto loans in order to draw a clearer picture of our consumer debt load.

This quarterly snapshot measures debt at a household level, making it especially relevant for ascertaining how households are juggling their debt loads. Why do we care about that? Because no matter how good you are at keeping your credit scores high and card balances low, if the masses aren’t doing the same, the economy could falter. Then you may have to rethink your spending decisions.

Current consumption is directly tied to consumer credit and can be a harbinger of an overstretched economy. In 2022 and 2023, we saw credit card balances surge after pandemic-related support payments ended, which the NY Fed said was likely tied to higher interest rates and the spike in inflation.

As rates rise, so do debt service payments, making them tougher to meet and tougher still on household balance sheets. When total household debt soars, as it did after the pandemic, it usually thwacks middle- and lower-income households hardest.

Again, the more debt we cumulatively hold, the more we as a society are likely to curb spending.

The same is true for businesses and government agencies. They, too, have to cover higher debt payments, which affects other financial priorities such as replacing equipment and doling out raises and bonuses.

Keep a sharp eye on the Consumer Expenditures Survey (CE), which is collected by the Census Bureau for the BLS. It’s a two-parter that relies on random samples of separate consumer groups to get a read on exactly how and where consumers are spending.

Weekly diaries from one group of consumers zero in on smaller, more frequent purchases of goods and services such as daily coffee stops, dinners and drinks out, and shoes and clothing. The interview survey covers bigger-ticket costs for things that are fairly easy to remember over a three-month period.

Both include “household characteristics”:

This gives the government agencies a snapshot of what goes on inside households, both big and small.

What do they do with all that info? The CE program’s primary purpose is to supply estimates “critical to the Consumer Price Index (CPI),” which it calls a “principal federal economic indicator.”

The CPI is an important indicator on its own, but the CE drills down further based on the income and demographic patterns outlined above. The result is a big pot of nuanced information that indicates the cost of raising a child or building a house, as well as national income and poverty levels.

The federal government makes program, policy, cost-of-living, and tax decisions based on this data. Cities, towns, and municipalities use it to plan public services and address community needs. Businesses analyze consumer supply and demand levels to hammer out product and service offerings. They even examine gift-giving behaviors used to set sales and promotions.

Government officials also use bits and pieces of all this cumulative data to get a heads-up on employment trends and business activities that could affect their states, cities, towns, and municipalities as well as tax collections, their key sources of funds. Businesses also use it as a guide to what kind of products and services they might want to offer or totally do away with, and how much inventory they might want and need to produce.

Regular folks like us can track the trends to see how we might want to pull on the purse strings if it looks like an inflationary period is ahead—or take a deep breath if prices are headed to the downside—and whether we should look for jobs or stay put.

CE data is key to determining the strength of the economy, what path it’s heading down, and what direction you might be going. Thus, CE data could impact not only your wallet but also your neighborhood, your age and race group, your income group, and your taxes—in positive or negative ways.

Want to keep a close watch on the economic barometer? Consider starting with the BEA Learning Center, which offers the latest reports, guides, and a list of topics to research. The U.S. Economy at a Glance page has up-to-date economic statistics.

The BLS updates its CE page each time there’s a data release, as does the Federal Reserve (and all the regional branches, including the New York Fed). The Fed also uploads all comments, speeches, and official testimony for each of its members.

But perhaps the best indicator of the consumer market is you. How are you feeling these days? Flush with cash, stretched thin, or somewhere in between? Do you get to the checkout counter and say, “Wow, that was expensive. I need to cut back”? Are you shifting your preferences, say, from “getting stuff” to “having experiences”?

Your perspective could reflect the national mood. Pay attention.