A new report spells more bad news for President Joe Biden’s reelection hopes less than a year from now.
As the holiday shopping season approaches, a LendingClub report reveals that approximately 60 percent of Americans are currently living paycheck-to-paycheck amid elevated inflation and higher gas prices compared to when Biden assumed office.
Furthermore, the report, as cited by CNBC, discovered that 4 in 10 consumers now perceive themselves as being in a worse financial situation than they were in 2022. This data was compiled in October, a month before the commencement of the holiday shopping season.
“This year, holiday spending during the Thanksgiving week may hit a record as consumers try to maximize the weekend’s deals, according to a 2023 Deloitte Black Friday-Cyber Monday survey. Spending over the week is expected to jump 13% from last year, with shoppers shelling out $567 on average, Deloitte found,” CNBC reported.
Meanwhile, according to a separate TD Bank survey, credit card debt has again topped $1 trillion, while “almost all — or 96% — of shoppers said they expect to overspend this season,” CNBC said, noting further:
Half of consumers plan to take on more debt to pay for holiday expenses, another report by Ally Bank found. Only 23% have a plan to pay it off within one to two months.
Some 74% of Americans say they are stressed about finances, according to a separate CNBC Your Money Financial Confidence Survey conducted in August. Inflation, rising interest rates, and a lack of savings contribute to those feelings.
That CNBC survey found that 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, up from 58% in March.
“Bidenomics” — a nickname given to Biden’s basket of economic policies — has been touted as a success by the administration, but the vast majority of Americans aren’t buying into the rhetoric.
According to an October report by Fox Business, home foreclosures have shot skyward by 34 percent since last year, and the trend doesn’t look like it will be reversing any time soon.
“Even with the national economic upturn and job stability, it’s evident that some homeowners are still grappling with the pandemic’s financial aftermath or encountering new challenges,” claimed Rob Barber, ATTOM CEO.
“Foreclosure starts are nearly back to where they were two years ago when the federal government lifted a pandemic-related moratorium on most foreclosure filings,” Barber added. “This rise in foreclosures might also be attributed to pending filings finally processing.”
The outlet continued:
Real estate experts are bracing for a significant blow to the market since the pandemic-era freeze on federal student loan payments officially came to an end at the beginning of October.
A recent poll conducted by Pulsenomics found that most economists said homeownership rates will be affected for at least a year by the resumption of student loan payments – and many predicted the impact could be longer than that.
More than 75% of the survey respondents said that the payments will have a negative effect on homeownership that lasts for a year or more. About 40% predicted an even longer impact of at least three years.
