#consumer-spending-slowdown

#consumer-spending-slowdown

The anticipated increase reflects renewed pressure on household budgets driven by surging oil and fuel costs, which economists say are increasingly being shaped by the fallout from the conflict involving US-Israeli and Iranian forces.

Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 2.4% in March, driven by high prices for energy, especially gas, due to the war in Iran.

Ken Murphy stated, 'In terms of tax pressures, industry and energy in particular, anything the government can do to help us to keep prices low for customers is welcome.' This highlights the urgent need for government intervention to support retailers.

"Then I'll have to fire him if he's not leaving on time. I've held back firing him. I've wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial. I want to be uncontroversial, but he will be fired."

Gold spot prices reached $4,829 per troy ounce at the end of the week, marking a fourth consecutive weekly gain. COMEX futures closed at $4,879, up 1.48%, driven by Iran's Strait of Hormuz truce and U.S. dollar weakness.

Monthly job growth averaged about 15,000 in 2025 and has risen to roughly 70,000 so far in 2026, although the data remains volatile and subject to revision.

High energy prices are kryptonite for the housing market. Affordability, especially for those first-time home buyers, is now an elusive dream until oil prices come down and interest rates come down.

'Walmart Worries' just keep multiplying. It's currently close to the highest level ever recorded which was during the Great Financial Crisis of 2008-09.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index cratered 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, falling below even the lowest readings during the COVID-19 pandemic. A measure of Americans' short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market tumbled 9.5 points to 65.1, well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. It's the 12th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80. Consumers' assessments of their current economic situation slid by 9.9 points to 113.7.