Consumer spending is 70% of the US economy. If it starts to fall, even a small amount, then retailers are going to have to start laying off workers. That's when we get into a recession. Consumer prices overall fell slightly in December. Over the past year, prices are up 6.5%, but not nearly as high as 8 and 9%.
The typical sales price of an existing family home in the United States in December: 372,700. The number of layoffs in the tech sector since the beginning of the year: 76,000. The number by which consumer spending fell in December: 0.2 percent. The increase in the cost of the same kind of carton of eggs bought by an editor on “The Daily” a year apart: 251 percent.
What do these numbers tell us about the state of the country’s economy?
Guest: Ben Casselman, an economics and business reporter for The New York Times.
Background reading:
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