Each month, economists, market research groups, credit analysts and the Federal Reserve track data on consumer spending. The data is in for January and some of February, and the results are interesting. The analysts at Credit-Land expected credit accounts to increase by $3.9 billion in January, but the Credit-Land industry outlook reports that credit accounts are up by $5.9 billion for the month of January. The greater than expected increase indicates that consumer sentiments about the economy may be changing for the better.
Purchase Items
The items that consumers are spending their money on may just surprise you. Consumers are establishing credit accounts for big-ticket items such as vacations, cars and boats, which increased by $9.26 billion in January 2011. This is unlike the consumers of a few months or a few years ago that were stashing every penny they could and spending as little as possible.