Chart Pack: U.S. Consumer Spending & Inflation June 2023

This Chart Pack provides a curated summary of Morning Consult’s proprietary Economic Intelligence data on U.S. consumer spending and inflation. 

Consumer spending increased in May after two straight months of reduced outlays. All income earners contributed to monthly spending gains, but May’s growth was largely driven by high-income consumers. Recent improvements shouldn’t be mistaken for a sign of full recovery, however. On an annual basis, total spending declined 2%, and more than half of spending categories tracked by Morning Consult fell. 

Chart Pack highlights:

• Morning Consult’s inflation-adjusted consumer spending metric ticked up in May following two previous months of declines. High-income consumers drove much of the increase in total spending, especially for discretionary categories.
• Looking to the second half of the year, budgets may be increasingly pinched going forward as disposable income and savings rates reversed their monthslong upward trend.
• Morning Consult’s three supply-side indicators within the five components of the Supply Chain Indexes of Consumer Inflation Pressure increased in May, reversing an easing trend in the past two months. Demand-side indicators brought more welcome news — consumers reported lower levels of price sensitivity (sticker shock) and a second month of negative substitutability, or trading-down behavior.