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American shoppers reduce expenses and the sentiment slips because President Donald Trump's tariffs and market volatility are at risk of undermining one of the key drivers of the world's largest economy.
Many retailers reported solid sales at the end of last year, but warned against slower growth in 2025, and industrial data show that their forecasts are already playing.
According to Malownext, counseling, extension of the decline, which began at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the year at the beginning of March decreased by 4.3 %year -on -year. Placer.ai, which aggregates signals from consumer mobile devices, has seen fewer visits to large box stores in recent weeks, including Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Friday The consumer sentiment index of the University of Michigan has seen its third consecutive monthly decline and the lowest reading since November 2022. The expectations of inflation are growing, the survey also showed.
Trump refused to exclude and recessionWhile the recent drumming of the stock market has deepened the investment portfolios of richer Americans who drive us consumption.
“The consumer is colored with so many different elements,” said Marshal Cohen, the main retail analyst Circana, who draws up information on the purchase of retail purchase. “It is easier for consumers to retreat and say,” I'll go out and wait and see what happens “.”
The US Federal Reserve is expected to suspend interest rates at its meeting this week and Fed chairman Jay Powell recently reduced growth concerns and said the US central bank “may not be in a hurry to reduce rates.
However, investors are increasingly afraid that Trump's unbalanced policy creation, marked by a number of sudden swelling U, disrupts businesses and slows growth. Benchmark Wall Street Benchmark S&P 500 Stock Index fell into a correction area this week before it came back.
Consumer expenditure was a key driver From the economic revival of the US from Pandemia Covid-19, it overcomes Europe and other large economies.
However, household budgets were stretched in the following period of high inflation. In response, consumers have scattered expenses and reduce sales volumes for companies packaged consumer packaging. Consumers with lower incomes felt the most tension.
The sale of general goods fell by 3 % per week ending on 8 March compared to last year and continued in a series of annual decline in February, the data from Circan showed.
According to the revenue management solution in the US, fast food restaurant with fast food dropped by 2.8 percent, while visits at breakfast declined by two -digit digits. “It's the simplest food you can make at home or skip completely,” he said.
Four large American airlines warned this week of retardationpartly to avert passengers in their free time.
This month Target reported a decline in February sales and warned profit pressures This quarter partly because of “tariff uncertainty”.
Some consumers are also boycott A retailer based in Minneapolis after retreating from the commitments of corporate diversity. The target executives refused to confirm whether the boycott had effect.
Analysts said economic anxiety had a greater impact than boycott on retail sales, for which official government data should be published on Monday.
Lauren Hobart, CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, told analysts this week that it was not “absolutely” that consumers were weaker. This year, however, this year predicts sales growth in the same trade by 1 to 3 %, slower than its 5.2 % increase in 2024.
“Our leadership only reflects the fact that today in a geopolitical environment, a macroeconomic environment there is so much uncertainty in the geopolitical environment. We are just properly careful, ”Hobart said.
Although inflation weighed the US consumers of the Moon, their anxiety was not always reflected in lower expenditure. Almost $ 1TN on sale Last season, the festive shopping season exceeded expectations.
“Consumers say they intend to pull back back,” said Tom Kilroy, head of McKinsey, this week at the Industrial Conference in New York. “But what we have seen in the last year is that this intention has not always followed the action.”
