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Following an expected increase in spending during the run-up before Labor Day, U.S. consumers spent less in stores, restaurants, gas stations and online for the week ending Sept. 13, according to a weekly Gallup poll.
Poll results indicate consumer spending fell by $10 a day, returning to the $60 spending level of recent months. Spending remains down 31% from the $87 average during the same week a year ago – suggesting that spending in 2009 continues to compare highly unfavorably to that of 2008, even as year-ago comparables ease.
Consumers' confidence in the economy, however, bounced back to its 20-month high for the week, as the percentage of consumers saying the economy is "getting better" increased to 41%, according to the Gallup poll. Confidence was 1% higher than the same period a month earlier, but it is far better than the 16% reported a year ago.
For the week ending Sept. 13, 53% of consumers said the economy is "getting worse" compared to 77% a year ago. Some 44% rated it "poor," compared with 41% last year. Results for the consumer perceptions and spending questions are based on telephone interviews with 3,010 adults.
Although much attention during the week was paid to the ongoing health care debate and the anniversaries of the Lehman Brothers collapse and Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "the lack of job creation and consumer spending are likely to become more prominent in the national dialogue in the months ahead. This is particularly true if current trends continue as the holiday sales season approaches," according to Gallup.
