A recent survey by the Census Bureau raises questions as to how sustainable robust consumer spending really is — and just how vulnerable many Americans may be as their pandemic savings and other sources of cash run out.
The findings show a 32% increase in those saying they were relying on credit cards and loans to meet their spending needs. By contrast, the amount of people who could cover their spending from regular income sources — "like those received before the pandemic" — grew at a much slower rate, up 5% from last year, according to the data.