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by h2odragon 980 days ago
> consumer spending has shrunk to less than 50% of what it used to be

and you're in a position to be concerned with the accuracy of your numbers, i assume.

CNN Tuesday: "US retail sales rose in September for the sixth-straight month"

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/17/economy/retail-sales-septembe...

... id be interested in your thoughts on the apparent conflict of viewpoint there.
2 comments
habitue 980 days ago
These seem consistent with each other:

During the pandemic and boom consumer spending was at X ("what it used to be")

Then it dropped a ton, though in recent months it's been increasing month over month. In fact, it's all the way back up to 50% of what it used to be!

link
thegginthesky 980 days ago
Like the sibling comment has said.

But what we saw during the peak was crazy, and some investors and execs thought it would last.

At least in regards to what pertains FTL freight, we saw a drop of tougjly 50% in volumes as consumer spending is down when compared to pandemic height. I am pretry sure there will be a seasonal trend upwards, but no where in the way it was before.

If you are in the industry, you can easily check how much cargo is moving around. Maybe by November-December it will be less than a 50% drop, but expect it to return by kid January-February.

link