Passing along a series of updates from our recurring monthly survey in the US.
Open Report:Bespoke – US Covid and Consumer Activity Recurring Monthly
Data Call Outs:
- Covid concerns dropped considerably m/m and now sits at a series low. Consumer expectations around how much longer they expect Covid to be a concern also declined.
- The percentage of consumers who are taking measures to avoid getting Covid have fallen off significantly (though some measures like working from home and avoiding public transportation have persisted).
- Most of the consumer activities that respondents had net negative expectations around for most of the pandemic turned positive in April and May. Most of the other categories that have been net positive throughout the pandemic have held onto gains (and some, like shopping online, grocery delivery, and food delivery apps have accelerated gains despite recent relaxation of anti-Covid measures).
- Most personal finance related metrics we track are fully recovered from their sharp drop at the very beginning of the pandemic. Hours worked and income vs. a year ago have improved off lows, but aren’t all the way back to pre-pandemic readings yet.
- Discretionary spending expectations continue to increase and sit at all-time series highs (series was first started in 2014).
- In recent months, the % of consumers who have noticed increases in gas prices has increased.
- Plans to buy a home in the next year and plans to start a home improvement project in the next six months has increased sequentially and are at series highs.
- Healthcare utilization, including dental visits, are broadly recovered off of Covid lows.
- Recent and expected spending on consumer electronics related items has increased sequentially over the past year.
- Plans to visit theme parks are sharply up over the past few months (Disney World / Disney Land, in particular).