{"id":10920,"date":"2023-05-19T10:30:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T14:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/robust-clothing-imports-consumer-spending-betray-economic-doomsayers\/"},"modified":"2023-05-19T10:30:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T14:30:57","slug":"robust-clothing-imports-consumer-spending-betray-economic-doomsayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920","title":{"rendered":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage<\/em><\/p>\n

Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of experts who, for about 18 months, have been warning of an imminent recession (defined as two consecutive fiscal quarters of declining Gross Domestic Product).<\/p>\n

Personal consumption<\/em><\/strong> contributes about two-thirds of the total US GDP. As goes the consumer, presumably, so goes the economy. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Evidence cited by economists to bolster the case for a downturn lately has focused on the personal savings rate. How much spare cash people have affects spending habits.<\/p>\n

According to the Federal Reserve, the personal savings rate currently hovers around the lowest point ever recorded since the middle of the last century, when that statistic was first introduced. The last time the rate bottomed out was in 2005, just before the so-called mortgage meltdown and the epic Great Recession of 2007-2009. Will history repeat?<\/p>\n

That low rate might be a harbinger of a slowdown in consumer spending. But it follows a historical spike in 2020 when federal stimulus payments meant to offset the Covid shutdown 2020 sent monthly savings rates as high as 33%.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

Does a slowdown in the rate signal a recession, or did consumers sock away so much that they don\u2019t need to save as much now?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After three years of economic disruption, is it possible that a downturn is not the start of a recession but simply trending toward a new or long-term normal?<\/p>\n

Another statistic being cited recently is import cargo volumes. According to a National Retail Federation report, volume at the nation\u2019s major container ports is expected to remain \u201cwell below\u201d last year\u2019s levels heading into this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers are still spending, and retail sales are expected to increase this year, but we\u2019re not seeing the explosive demand we saw the past two years,\u201d according to NRF official Jonathan Gold. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not a big surprise when you consider that apparel and footwear imports into the United States rose four out of the last five years \u2014 up in 2022 by 11.3% on top of an 18.5% year-over-year increase in 2021, according to a Journal of Commerce report.<\/p>\n

Is the only alternative to explosive demand a recession? Or is it possible that \u2014 after the wild swings in supply and demand of the past couple of years \u2014 inventories have been thinned and are trending toward balance?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, what do we see when we look at the big picture? The latest Commerce Department report shows a healthy bounce in retail and food services sales. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the April unemployment rate (3.4 percent) was about where it was a year earlier; average hourly earnings have increased by 4.4 percent over the past 12 months; and inflation has been steadily falling for more than a year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth remembering that, in the grand scheme of things, so-called black swans events like pandemics and wars are exceptions to long-term trends; that a single metric can\u2019t tell the whole story; and that any one company in the retail industry does not live or die by the ebb and flow of global events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of experts who, for about 18 months, have been warning of an imminent recession (defined as two consecutive fiscal quarters of declining Gross Domestic Product). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-10920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nRobust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1684506656_0x0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\"},\"headline\":\"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Featured\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Investing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\",\"name\":\"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"description\":\"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"width\":558,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Repay Down\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld","description":"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld","og_description":"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of","og_url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920","og_site_name":"iFintechWorld","article_published_time":"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1684506656_0x0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61"},"headline":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers","datePublished":"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920"},"wordCount":534,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Featured"],"articleSection":["Investing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920","name":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers | iFintechWorld","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-19T14:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-19T14:30:57+00:00","description":"Some commonsense and calm may need to rule at this stage Unless the US economy goes into a ditch pretty soon, expect to see many red faces in the mob of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=10920#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robust Clothing Imports, Consumer Spending Betray Economic Doomsayers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","name":"Repay Down","description":"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization","name":"Repay Down","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","width":558,"height":90,"caption":"Repay Down"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com"],"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10922,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920\/revisions\/10922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}