Surprise Fireworks: Explosive Economic and Spending Growth

The temperature is heating and so is the economy. The CSG Economic Index has seen an incredible spike that puts it just below the February high. This is even more surprising considering last month was the lowest point for the Economic Index this year. The good news continues as all spending indexes are up and have reached above or near their peaks for this year. In an unbelievable turn, we have political agreement as both parties feel that the economy is improving and that their personal finances are improving as well. All of this is a great sign for the economy and the future, yet this sudden spike has seemingly come out of nowhere. 2024 has largely been an economic struggle and our polling thus far has reflected that. There was hope that things would improve this month, yet there was no indication that we would see such an increase in most categories. Significant summer sales, Prime Day and restaurant meal deals would only explain some of what we are seeing, such as people eating out more. We just had a Presidential debate, and the election cycle is ramping up, yet that usually has a negative effect on spending and the economy. At the moment we do not have a solid explanation for the improved numbers we are seeing. We could see some of these numbers come down next month, we are already see next month spending taking a significant dip which is odd for this time of year. While we hope that this improvement continues for the rest of the year, there is the possibility that this is an anomaly or small burst driven by unknown political and environmental factors.