BoA with the note. I put this down to the crazy stock market which has the power to create its own economic recovery. The correlation between stocks and consumption in the US is strong.
•We have seen signs of a strengthening in consumer spending at the start of this year–Bank of America credit and debit card spending per household rose 5.1% year-over-year (YoY) in January, compared to 2.2% YoY in December. Total payments across all channels (Automated Clearing House (ACH), Bill Pay, Credit and Debit Card, Wires, Person-to-Person, Cash and Check) grew 7.5% YoY.
•This increase partly reflects the comparison with an Omicron-impacted January 2022, but we also think an increase in minimum wages and social security may be helping consumers, along with the stellar labor market.
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David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
