Charts: U.S. Consumer Outlook Q1 2024

U.S. consumers are carefully monitoring their spending amid ongoing global uncertainty. That’s according to “US consumer sentiment: Caution heading into 2024,” a research post last month from McKinsey & Company.

The economic outlook of U.S. consumers remained relatively stable throughout 2023, with a slight increase in optimism.

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Consumers’ spending plans in Q1 2024 signaled a priority on essential items such as baby supplies, gasoline, and food.

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Seventy-seven percent of surveyed Americans reported engaging in some form of spending reduction in Q4 2023.

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The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, a division of the Department of Commerce, publishes the monthly “Personal Consumption Expenditures Index,” a gauge of U.S. consumer spending. According to the BEA, consumer spending on goods and services increased by 0.3% in November 2023 over the prior month.