This is not beneficial for the summer months, the cost of gasoline on the road, the amount of consumer disposable income available for other purchases.
FORBES: Our Enemies--Iran, Libya, Venezuala-- Voted Not To Increase Oil Supply
So, the bottom line for now is that the sad state of banking for the low-income consumer is more about picking your poison than than anything else.
Aggregated population statistics and data on GDP per capita and disposable income correlate poorly with the size of specific income segments, a core determinant of the attractiveness of consumer markets.
The IRS needs to verify consumer income information to see who qualifies for insurance subsidies.
FORBES: Will Consumers Be Able to Understand Health Exchanges?
U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes the employment cost index, personal income and outlays and the University of Michigan consumer survey.
FORBES: A.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Comex Gold Trades Weaker On Corrective, Profit-Taking Pullback
The supposed economic savior, the European consumer, continues to show signs of falling disposable income due to the rise in prices of staple items (namely food and energy).
By roughly mid-2011, the level of consumer debt relative to income had declined by about 15 to 18 percent.
On Friday, we get the numbers on personal income and consumer sentiment, which is likely to be watched closely by Wall Street.
Beata Caranci, Deputy Chief Economist at TD Bank, has noted that the ratio of consumer debt relative to income has also been cyclical.
"The monthly up-and-down pattern in the saving rate over the course of the second quarter reflects nothing more than consumer smoothing through transitory income fluctuations--in this case, due to the one-time stimulus payments, " said Mike Feroli, senior economist at JPMorgan Chase.
The week ends with Personal Income and Outlays, the PMI Manufacturing Index, consumer sentiment, and the ISM Manufacturing Index on Friday.
U.S. economic data due for release Wednesday includes the weekly jobless claims report, the weekly MBA mortgage applications survey, durable goods orders, personal income and outlays and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.
FORBES: Comex Gold Lower As Commodity Sector Sinks, U.S. Dollar Rallies Amid "Risk-Off" Day
Yet despite the Item Club's concerns, it did say that the UK economy should see at least short-term growth, "driven by improving prospects for the consumer, with falling inflation and rising employment levels boosting disposable income, helping to revive the High Street".
However, while Apple has consumer hype on its side in conquering the Chinese market, it faces a major obstacle: Low consumer income.
They didn't believe in an expansion of the consumer base through a reduction of extreme income inequality.
If the markets are not exhausted by then, we have the personal income, Chicago PMI and consumer sentiment reports coming our way Friday.
Because the toy retailer is a tenant at the Yorktown mall, it was able to provide KKR with insight into the area's household income and consumer-purchasing habits, he said.
"There is still a huge extended over-valuation in the market - any change in the employment situation and consumer sentiment due to income changes will tend to push prices down, " Mr Stansfield says.
By raising consumption taxes on products and services targeting the affluent while reducing or maintaining income tax levels, the Chinese government has been able to sustain consumer confidence, increase spending (retail sales have risen 16-18% annually over the last three years), and get needed tax revenue for infrastructure projects required to maintain employment numbers.
The dividend and personal income windfall from late last year may partly explain the healthy increase in consumer spending in January and February despite the big payroll-tax increase.
The week closes with a few data measures on unemployment and income growth that reflect a consumer economy that is still very much on the wane.
The World Bank rates Kenya as a low-income country and analysts like Alban Aoko of Consumer Trends say that companies ignoring the mass market do so at their own peril.
CNN: Small is beautiful: Slum traders spark big business trend
Anyone of those would take a bite out of disposable income, but the combination tears through consumer wallets.
FORBES: Uh-Oh, Even Wal-Mart Faces The Cash Strapped Consumer
So the leap in consumer spending as a share of personal income (see chart 7 ), which has been propelled by tax cuts that were only partially offset by saving increases, is highly unlikely to persist.
"The sufficient-income provision is hopelessly vague, " says Chi Chi Wu, a lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center.
That the U.S. consumer is feeling more confident and thus, is more willing to spend more of their income than in the recent past.
FORBES: Advertising Agency Results Latest Anecdotal Evidence Of Expanding Economy
Apply the savings to all programs linked to the consumer price index -- Social Security, government retirement, income tax brackets -- and it's big money.
CNN: Budget cutters take hard look at Social Security - Sept. 27, 1995
In 2007, for example, Gov. Mitch Daniels created the Healthy Indiana Plan, which funded 95% of the cost of consumer-directed health savings accounts for low-income residents.
Thus, the same amount of income spread over more people leads to greater consumer spending.
FORBES: The Great Recession: How We Got Here (and How to Get Out)
Consumer spending is rising twice as quickly as the rate of personal income.
应用推荐