The market consensus was just another rise of 0.1% in January.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) March 04, 2014
CF Funding is happy to share that consumer spending rose on a seasonally adjusted basis by 0.4 percent last month, as shown on TradingEconomics.com. Some of this increase was due to the cold weather, which caused an increase of spending on electricity and gas, but these expenses only covered about half of the increase. January was also the first month that the Affordable Care act was in place, causing an increase in healthcare expenses. With healthcare and electricity factors combined, spending on services saw a 0.9% surge.
In December, we saw a 0.1 percent increase, which was less than expected, but household purchases in January were above expectations. The market consensus was just another rise of 0.1% in January. CF Funding is happy to see more consumers spending, as markets are improving and more Americans are able to put money back into the economy.
Retailers have had a rough winter as cold weather has kept shoppers home, causing the first drop in quarterly profit for this industry since 2009. Fortunately the housing industry looks more optimistic. Companies such as Lowe’s and Home Depot have shared positive expectations: “Some of the recent housing and jobs data has softened a little bit, but we still think the consumer is going to be there and 2014 is going to be a great year,” said Robert Niblock, chief officer of Lowe’s told Bloomberg on March 3rd.
Although Americans were spending more this month on healthcare, the Affordable Care Act also caused a rise in incomes. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income increased $43.9 billion in January. Disposable personal income increased $45.2 billion in January, after seeing a $5.5 billion decrease in December. Personal consumption expenditures increased by 0.4 percent in January, which was an increase of $48.1 billion.
CF Funding expects to see more jobs available as the Spring brings warmer weather over the next few months. This will allow for even more consumer spending in 2014. Experts say the increase in healthcare spending will become a norm, but CF Funding hopes to see incomes continue to rise as well. Inflation has also been rising over the past few months, which may inspire the Federal Reserve to continue to taper the bank’s bond-buying in 2014. CF Funding will keep you updated on these changes on the CF Funding news feed at