MarketPR
Chicago Federal Reserve president Austan Goolsbee stated that US consumer spending is currently supported by solid, broad-based strength across income levels, rather than being artificially propped up by the recent surge in equity markets.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Goolsbee argued that the persistence of strong spending figures indicates a wide base of economic activity rather than reliance on wealth effects from higher-income investors.
The S&P 500 is up nearly 13% this year, driven by investment in artificial intelligence. Some market observers suggest this rally is fueling spending among higher-income consumers.
Goolsbee countered this view by citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which shows that the bottom 90% of the income distribution accounts for roughly 75% of all spending in the US economy.
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