Consumers

The meetings are being held in Morocco, still struggling to recover from a severe earthquake just a month ago. The contrast with the U.S. could not be more stark. The IMF says the U.S. is the only major economy where output has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

But what they're spending their money on is shifting.

Over the last year, many retailers have been successfully using discounts to purge their excess inventories. Now, retailers might use discounts to lure skittish consumers.

The July retail sales report found that Americans are spending more than last year in most categories. Will that be a problem?

Households feel their finances have been improving, the New York Fed says. But Americans appear to be racking up more credit card debt.

The Labor Department says worker output is up while average hours worked is down. That could help bring down inflation going forward.

Wages are rising faster than prices. So on average, people’s purchasing power is increasing.

Consumers have been sticking with Procter & Gamble. But if high prices make shoppers trade down, the company has products for them too.

Consumers at almost every income level are finding ways to spend on getting out of the house.

Between the pandemic and its economic ripple effects, the consumer experience has been a wild ride.