2023-10-13 13:05:00

'The mood has turned darker': Desperate to outrun inflation, people are making big (and easy) changes to their...

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MarketWatch
By Andrew Keshner

We never were the same after last summer.

Stubbornly high inflation rates in recent months and several interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve are impacting consumer behavior. Thats according to company earnings reports, market-data analytics and consumer surveys.

Inflation reached 8.2% in September on the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday, clinging to a four-decade high. Most economists expected a September inflation rate of 8.1% year-over-year, after Augusts 8.3% annual increase.

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The cost of living increased 0.4% from August to September. But the core numbers that strip away volatile food and energy costs rose 0.6% month to month when Wall Street forecasters were expecting a 0.4% rise.

Ahead of the market open Thursday, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.69%, S&P 500 SPX, -1.02% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.56% all plunged after the hot inflation numbers.

Rattled by the rise in the cost of living in recent months, millions of people have already been taking action to conserve their cash, according to recent McKinsey & Co. report that explored the ways people are trading down.

Whether its at gas pumpsor in grocery stores, people across the United States have been feeling a pinch in their pocketbooks this summer, it said. Inflation is the highest its been in decades, andconsumers are worried and jittery.

“Consumers also tend to disagree on the outlook for inflation more than experts do, they change their view less often, and they often rely on a few key products they consume regularly.”

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