RIVERWOODS, Ill. — Consumer spending will not pick up in the near future, if a survey conducted by Discover Financial Services holds true.
The parent corporation of the Discover Card Brand publishes the Discover Spending Monitor monthly. The survey of 15,000 U.S. adults seeks to quantify consumers' spending intentions for the next month to two months.
For only the second time since Discover started taking the survey, more consumers (29%) said they planned to spend less in the coming month than those who planned to spend more (17%).
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Discover reported that a near-record 55% of Americans were prepared to spend less on discretionary categories like entertainment, dining out and movies next month. A majority of people (52%) are cutting back on household improvements and major personal purchases (51%) with both measures near their record highs. Finally, consumers are putting a sharp pencil to household expenses where a record high About 70% are either holding the line or spending less, and a record low 28% say they will have to spend more on household expenses in the coming month.
"The last time the Monitor reported 55 percent of consumers intending to spend less on discretionary spending, gas prices were nearing $4 per gallon," said Julie Loeger, senior vice president of marketing for Discover Financial Services. "Job losses and a poor economy have definitely replaced high gas prices as primary drivers of discretionary cost-cutting."
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