Headline: Consumer spending: Settling in on spending less

Details: A recent report from SpendingPulse (a service of MasterCard Advisors) speaks to the fact that they dont see an aggressive move upwards in consumer spending. They point to s slight increase for the holidays, then back to a stabilized level in Q1. There were some highlights, particularly how much of consumer spending goes to health care (~70%!). This means that Health and Personal care spending should continue during this time period, so make sure you have a good campaign from this category in your portfolio of offers! Full article HERE. Some tidbits below.

“Consumers have entered a period of stabilization,” said Kamalesh Rao, director of Economic Research for MasterCard Advisors. “We are not seeing robust measures of acceleration.”

With consumer spending – including such items as health care – accounting for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, economists watch it closely. Any change in retail sales could indicate what kind of economic recovery the nation will face.