Gerald Store, CEO of Store Advisors, spoke to Barney & Company about the current state of U.S. consumers ahead of the holiday season.
New data shows America's middle class is feeling the squeeze like never before.
Primerica's latest work According to the third quarter Financial Security Monitor report, 55% of middle-income households now assess their personal financial situation negatively, an increase of 6 points from the previous survey.
New Primerica survey shows a majority of middle-income Americans have negative thoughts about household finances (Photo by Spencer Pratt/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“For the first time in over a year, a majority of middle-income households feel negative about their personal finances,” said Primerica CEO Glenn Williams. “In fact, this latest report shows the highest negative rating since we began tracking it just four years ago.”
Middle-income households' views on the economy have also worsened over the past three months. A significant majority, 73%, said they had a negative view of the country's economic health, an increase of one point from the previous survey.
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The survey results also show increased uncertainty about the economy, with 34% saying they are unsure about the direction of the economy, a jump of 15 points from the previous quarter.
The survey surveyed households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $130,000, and 40% of respondents cited inflation as their top concern, an 8% increase from the previous quarterly survey.
Rising inflation in the past few years for everyday items like food and gasoline has placed an increasing strain on most American household budgets. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The Ministry of Labor announced this on Thursday. Consumer Price Index (CPI) A broad measure of the cost of everyday items such as gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.2% in September from the previous month and 2.4% from a year earlier.
High inflation is creating severe financial pressure on most countries US householdsare forced to pay more for necessities such as food and rent. For low-income Americans, rising prices are especially devastating. That's because they tend to spend more of their already stretched salaries on necessities, and therefore have less flexibility to save money.
What food items increased or decreased in price the most in September?
“Families continue to cite inflation as a top concern, with the stress it causes worrying about whether they will be able to buy necessities like food and groceries, go to the doctor, or manage mounting credit card debt. ,” Williams said. Said.
Primerica's latest quarterly survey shows middle-income households are increasingly concerned about credit card debt (Photo illustration: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Survey results also show that middle-income Americans are increasingly concerned about credit card debt. 44% say they are more worried about their credit card debt than they were a year ago, an increase of 9% from last quarter and the highest level of concern since the question was first introduced in March 2023. It becomes.
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“Our findings reflect the cumulative financial stress that middle-income households are facing,” Williams told FOX Business. “Although the cost of living has slowed in recent years, we must remember that many people have fallen behind financially and are still recovering.”
FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.
