Economic reports released this week show a big gap between the performance of the economy and how everyday people feel about it.
September’s retail sales numbers were delayed from the federal government shutdown. They showed sales climbed 0.2%, which is the fourth straight month of increases.
But overall measures of consumer confidence saw a sharp decline, hitting their lowest level since the White House's tariff announcements in April. A survey in October also highlighted growing pessimism about job availability and income opportunities in the next six months.
The Producer Price Index, which tracks prices businesses pay to make goods, ticked up 0.3% in September, a bigger jump than the month prior. When companies face higher prices, that trickles down to consumers.
And the National Association of Realtors found home sales rose nearly 2% in October, indicating slightly lower mortgage rates could be helping make the market more palatable. However, a new Zillow report out this week found that more than half of homes have lost value over the last year.
One reason the data may not match feelings on the ground is because much of it was gathered in September, before a more than month-long government shutdown suppressed budgets, snarled travel and put food aid benefits at risk for millions of Americans.
New polling from Politico shows the top affordability concerns lie in the price of groceries, housing, health care, and utility bills for people across the country.
A simultaneous CBS-YouGov poll shows 58% of consumers feel prices have been noticeably climbing in just the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is expected to meet on December 9 and December10 to discuss the possibility of a further interest rate cut. The agency hopes to minimize the risk of a recession, but it will have to weigh the latest data in its decisions.
