November 2024
Consumer Checkpoint: Holiday spending unwrapped
Are consumers ready for the holidays?
Key takeaways
- The consumer shows solid momentum as we head into the holidays. Bank of America aggregated credit and debit card spending per household rose 1.0% year-over-year (YoY) in October, rebounding from the 0.9% YoY decline in September. On a seasonally adjusted basis, spending was down 0.1% month-over-month (MoM) in October, following the previous 0.6% MoM increase.
- Strengthening after-tax wages and salaries growth among higher-income households, up nearly 2% YoY in October, has underpinned a rise in their spending growth, with spending increasing YoY for all income cohorts.
- Consumer sentiment has also shown signs of improvement, and the 2024 Bank of America Holiday Survey suggests people are planning to spend $2,100 outside of typical obligations and necessities this holiday season, up 7% YoY. But consumers continue to look to stretch their dollar and intend to focus their holiday spending firepower on deals and cost savings.
- Overall, the financial position of households appears sound. Household savings and checking balances are declining, but slowly, while the proportion of 401(k) participants taking hardship distributions remains low.
Read our full analysis for a more in-depth look at these trends.
Consumer Checkpoint is a regular publication from Bank of America Institute. It aims to provide a holistic and real-time estimate of U.S. consumers’ spending and their financial well-being, leveraging the depth and breadth of Bank of America proprietary data. Any such Bank of America proprietary data is not intended to be reflective or indicative of, and should not be relied upon as, the results of operations, financial conditions or performance of Bank of America.
