Information and Trends by Prosperity Concierge

No Money for an Emergency – Study Finds Most Families Have No Cash for a Rainy Day

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:06:54 +0000

Most Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency.

A majority, or 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, or NFCC.

Only 36% said they would tap their rainy day funds for an emergency. The rest of the 2,700 people

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Unemployment, Economy Contribute to Record Use of Food Stamps

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:45:33 +0000

Unemployment and global debt worries continue to hurt the economy, adding financial pressure on families that increasingly rely on food stamps.

Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in May, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

The number of Americans using the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – more

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Debt and Slow Growth Keeps Hiring at Slow Pace

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:39:36 +0000

Payrolls at U.S. companies increased by a slow 114,000 in July, suggesting modest job growth in the wake of debt reduction and fears of slower growth, in an employment report released by ADP.

It was the 18th straight month of job growth in the ADP report.

The ADP report covers only private-sector employment, and not government jobs.

The

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Consumers Lower Spending, Save More as Economic Growth Slows

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:01:42 +0000

Along with signs the economy is slowing and consumer sentiment is declining we see that Americans cut back on their spending in June for the first time in nearly two years and their incomes grew by the smallest amount in nine months. This is another troubling sign for an economy that is barely growing.

Consumer spending

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Debt, Unemployment and Slow Growth Continue to Hurt Economy

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:16:58 +0000

The debt overhang and unemployment continue to hurt the economy.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment fell to 63.7, the weakest since March 2009, from 71.5 in June.

Consumer spending from April through June showed the smallest gain since the second quarter of 2009, when the economy was in recession, the Commerce Department

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Weak Consumer Spending, Slow Job Growth and Tight Credit are Restraining Growth – Beige Book

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:31:17 +0000

Weak consumer spending, slow job growth and tight credit are restraining growth into the second half of the year.

Growth slowed in eight of the Fed’s 12 bank regions in June and early July, the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” reports. That marks the worst economic showing this year.

The Fed’s report found that the job market remained

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Credit Card Use Increases – Shows Gas and Food Inflation and Low Wages

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:26:58 +0000

Consumers in the U.S. are increasingly using credit cards to pay for basic necessities as income gains fail to keep pace with rising food and fuel prices.

The dollar volume of purchases charged grew 10.7 percent in June from a year ago, while the number of transactions rose 6.8 percent, according to First Data Corp.

The cause

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Consumer Confidence Lowest in Two Years, Reflecting Employment, Debt and Housing

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:00:34 +0000

Confidence among U.S. consumer fell in July to the lowest level in more than two years, adding to concern that weak employment gains and falling home prices may keep households from spending.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment decreased to 63.8, the weakest reading since March 2009, from 71.5 the prior month.

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Spending Slows Due to Low Income Expectations

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:22:35 +0000

Consumers are becoming more worried about their income. As a result, consumer spending may become lower.

The share of Americans foreseeing a drop in wages over the next six months compared to those expecting an increase is at its highest level since October 2010, according to the Conference Board’s consumer research center.

The research center expects that

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Bond Rates Show Slow Growth in Economy

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:27:45 +0000

The 3-percentage-point gap between yields for three-month and 10-year Treasuries indicates the economy may grow 1.1 percent in the 12 months ending June 2012, a study by the Fed Bank of Cleveland says. That’s less than half the central bank’s current forecast, and may delay any rate increase from the zero- to-25 basis point range

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Consumer Debt Increases Again – Credit Cards, Auto Loans and Student Debt Rise

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:46:54 +0000

The Federal Reserve reported on July 8, 2011 that consumer debt rose $5.1 billion in May, the eighth straight monthly increase. It followed a revised gain of $5.7 billion in April. Borrowing in the category that covers credit cards increased, as did borrowing in the category for auto and student loans. The Federal Reserve’s borrowing

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Tools, Incentives and Higher Rates to Help You Save

Prosperity Concierge — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:53:49 +0000

Save More Money

Banks and financial websites are offering more innovative tools, incentives and higher rates these days to help you pump up your savings.

Programs like Bank of America’s Keep the Change even kick in some money to help you out in the beginning. Others like SmartyPig.com are dishing out cash-back rewards on their co-branded prepaid

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Debt and Unemployment Keeping Economy Growth Slow – Fisher

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:52:51 +0000

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said he sees economic growth picking up in the second half while remaining slow, and the Fed sustaining its record asset holdings for an “appropriate” period.

“It’s going to take quite some time to achieve a glide path that brings unemployment down significantly. It’s a slow recovery and

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Debt, Equity and QE2 – Bond Purchases May Have Helped

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:02:32 +0000

The quantitative easing that the Fed provided may have helped debt and equity markets.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the QE2 bond purchases gave a sagging economy a lift by slightly reducing borrowing costs for businesses and consumers and by raising stock prices to make people feel wealthier. Still, it didn’t much energize

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Debt Deleveraging is Why Households Continue to Struggle

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:31:02 +0000

Households may struggle for a while longer. One major reason: their household debt.

Many experts say private debt owed by households is an even bigger problem than the government debt that’s getting so much attention lately. And it won’t be solved without a difficult stretch of high unemployment and slow growth that will likely last for

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Homeowners Not Making Mortgage Debt Payments is Helping Economy

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:30:30 +0000

Millions of households have more money to spend since they fell delinquent on their mortgages amid the housing collapse. They are staying in their homes for free about a year and a half on average, buying time to restructure their finances and providing an unexpected support for consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent

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Household Debt Up?: Savings Rate Unchanged, Incomes Rise Little, Spending Up

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:49:10 +0000

Savings, income and spending figures hint at higher household debt.

Americans’ disposable incomes, or the money left over after taxes, rose 0.1 percent after adjusting for inflation, following no change in February, a reminder of the challenge represented by rising food and energy costs. The Commerce Department said today that the savings rate held at 5.5

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Global Investment, Productivity and Job Growth Ramping Up

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:32:34 +0000

First-quarter earnings from equities across the globe have beaten forecasts so far. A self-perpetuating cycle of wealth growth, productivity increases, and perhaps job growth, appears to be underway.

Since April 11, 71 percent of MCSI World Index members reporting results have topped analysts’ estimates for earnings per share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profits of

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Government Welfare: A Growth Industry Threatened by Government Debt Contraction

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:46:30 +0000

Lack of jobs, debt contraction across the economy and people lacking needed employable skills have all contributed to increased use of safety nets. Government welfare is being used by one in six Americans.

Just as private debt contraction by households and businesses is driving people to government safety nets, future debt contraction within the government promises

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The Job Search – the Hunt for a Good Job in the U.S.

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:50:28 +0000

The sharpest drop in unemployment in more than a quarter century obscures a simple fact: The jobs market still isn’t working for many Americans.

Some 6.3 million people have been out of work and looking for a job for more than six months. The employment-to-population ratio is lower than it was when the recession ended as

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