The Trouble With Consumer Spending

Wall Street Journal by Phil Izzo | Feb. 27, 2009 (Special Report)

Consumer spending has been hit particularly hard in this recession. Today’s fourth-quarter GDP revisions illustrate that things were even worse than first thought late last year. “Consumer spending dropped by a 4.3% pace, the steepest fall in 28 years. It also marks the first time in history we have seen two consecutive quarters where household spending has fallen by more than 3% for two consecutive quarters,” said Bernard Baumohl of the Economic ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin

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Kristin Gorski
3.6
 by Kristin Gorski - Feb. 28, 2009

This graph is important in that it focuses on consumer spending, which continues to fall as this recession continues. The big-picture comparison to other U.S. recessions is significant, and confirms (unfortunately) what many are worried about. I'd like additional information accompanying this graph to help put this info in context: what caused the turn-around of consumer spending in previous recessions? Based on what's been seen so far, any ideas on where consumer spending will go from here? I'd like to know more.

This visual is eye-opening. I'd like to see updates to this chart as additional statistics on consumer spending are made available.

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