As the name suggests the Survey of Consumer Expectations “captures the economic outlook of consumers as an indication of the country’s future economic conditions.” This report has gained greater importance in light of the elevated inflation levels and concerns from the FED that inflationary expectations may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For a data geek, these monthly surveys are a treasure trove measuring access to credit, household spending, housing, labor markets and public policy.
Within each of these modules are a plethora of time series quantifying consumer expectations and experiences on a variety of items. Given my curiosity about the labor market, I decided to focus this post there. Here’s a few things I learned (note that this labor component is updated 3X a year and this data was collected in April):
- Seems as though workers are holding out for higher pay:The average reservation wage—the lowest wage respondents would be willing to accept for a new job—increased to $73,283 from $70,339 in November. That’s a 4% jump in just 4 months. Sign of a tight labor market?
About
the Author
Tim Ranzetta
Tim’s saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.