Retail sales are expected to have increased a bit in May, but a new poll indicates that the spending is primarily coming from wealthier and older consumers.
(…) a new poll from Gallup indicates that consumers who make more than $90,000 account for the bulk of that spending increase. Upper-income Americans’ self-reported spending rose 33% to an average of $145 per day in May — up from $109 per day in April. Meanwhile, middle- and lower-income Americans’ self-reported spending averaged $59 per day in May, unchanged from the previous month. (…)
The result is consistent with the picture in the U.S. labor market. In May, the headline U.S. unemployment rate declined to 9.7% from 9.9%, but all of the gains came from workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher, which tend to include the highest paid workers. The jobless rate among college graduates dropped to 4.7% from 4.9% as the number of unemployed declined, compared to an increase among all other education levels. The unemployment rate jumped to 15% for those with less than a high school diploma and climbed to 10.9% for high school graduates.(…)
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