Let me quickly explain what the chart below shows... Since 1995 (the furthest back you can easily obtain real consumption by category), no...

A few data points from today... The Good This morning's Chicago PMI showed that delivery times have slowed. How is this possibly a good...

In response to my post Something Sustainable reader Tom Lindmark commented: As I understand the numbers, real PCE declined 0.1% and dispo...

My Not Sustainable post from last month involved the same inputs; compensation (not to be confused with total income) and consumption. Note...

The WSJ details: U.S. consumer spending rose twice as fast as income in March as saving dropped to its lowest level in 18 months and a clos...

Marketwatch with the details: U.S. retail sales rose 1.6% in March, aided by strong demand for autos, building materials and new clothes. T...

Financial-Planning reports: While 63% of Americans said they were concerned about the overall state of financial markets in 2009, just 45% ...

My post on retail sales this morning may have been a bit misleading. Are levels improving? Yes. Are we back to old levels even in nominal t...

The following chart in my post On the Change in Q3 GDP shows that consumption of goods contributed about 1.7% of the third quarter's 2...

While we looked at personal consumption earlier this week, it is important to note that over the shorter run, we are beginning to see signs...

WSJ reports: Without government support, personal income is under pressure as the U.S. workweek gets shorter. In a report showing the U.S. ...

Credit for the chart below goes to Wall Street Bear . And where'd that money go (I used rolling 12-month as the monthly data is too cho...

Calculated Risk touched upon this yesterday: PCE declined sharply in Q3 and Q4 2008, and rebounded slightly in Q1 2009. Q2 2009 is off to a...

WSJ reports: The spending of U.S. consumers dropped in March along with their incomes and they elevated savings to cope with the recession....

All I hear on CNBC is that the market shrugged off the horrendous GDP figure as personal consumption showed surprising strength. Is that tr...

Lets do our part and consume lots of turkey tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving! Source: BEA