How the Virus Transformed the Way Americans Spend Their Money (NYT)

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/11/business/economy/coronavirus-us-economy-spending.html

How the Virus Transformed the Way Americans Spend Their Money
By Lauren Leatherby and David Gelles
April 11, 2020



The coronavirus has profoundly altered daily life in America, ushering in sweeping upheavals to the U.S. economy. Among the most immediate effects of the crisis? Radical changes to how people spend their money.

In a matter of weeks, pillars of American industry essentially ground to a halt. Airplanes, restaurants and arenas were suddenly empty. In many states, businesses deemed nonessential — including luxury goods retailers and golf courses — were ordered closed.

“This is the sharpest decline in consumer spending that we have ever seen,” said Luke Tilley, chief economist at Wilmington Trust.

All of the charts in this article are based on a New York Times analysis of data from Earnest Research, which tracks and analyzes credit card and debit card purchases of nearly six million people in the United States. While the data does not include cash transactions, and therefore does not reflect all sales, it provides a strong snapshot of the impact of the virus on the economy.



How people spend determines which companies survive, and who has a job. In recent weeks, more than 16 million workers in the country have filed for unemployment. And with no end to the outbreak in sight, consumer spending is likely to be fundamentally different for many months to come.

[jmg257]

1. In other news, water is wet.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. I wonder if the grocery spike in early March was the result of people stocking up.

[dalton99a]

3. Yep.

I think grocery stores will lay off their temps in a couple of weeks as inventory is restored to normal level

[jmg257]

4. Of course - been doing so since late february

As were tons of other people.

[durablend]

5. The one thing I'll add

People have some idea that we need to close the grocery stores entirely and go to "online groceries". That isn't the answer, at least not where we're at now. Stores are already swamped with online orders (and employees bitter about it), increase that ten-fold and you'll be lucky to get (1/4 of) what you ordered in a few months at the earliest.