Proof The Bible Is True

Consumers are “straining against rising prices on daily essentials to afford summer travel, dining out, and discretionary household purchases – the kinds of purchases that ordinarily keep an economy humming.” That’s what Gallup found when it used a new survey to dive deeper into consumer spending.

Its regular monthly survey has been mixed. The average dollar amount consumers spent in June swooned to $91 per day from $98 in May, after a crummy January-April period ranging from $78 to $88 per day. The May spurt seems to have been an outlier that had given rise to a lot of speculation consumers would finally hit “escape velocity,” now obviated by events. But from 2012 until late last year, the averages had been rising.

So Gallup dove deeper into the issue with its new survey conducted in mid-June to sort through what consumers are spending more or less money on. And what it found was that they’re buying a little more – “just not the things they want.”

They’re spending more on things they have to buy, and in many instances they’re spending more in these categories because prices have jumped. At the top of the list: groceries.

Groceries: 59% spent more, 10% spent less.

Gasoline: 58% spent more, 12% spent less

Utilities: 45% spent more, 10% spent less

Healthcare: 42% spent, 8% spent less

Toilet paper and other household goods: 32% spent more, 5% spent less

Rent, the biggie: 32% spent more, 9% spent less.

These categories are household essentials. They’re on top of the priority list.

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