America’s consumers have suffered a “stunning” loss of confidence in recent weeks, according to the University of Michigan’s latest snapshot of their mood. So far, however, leaders of the country’s biggest consumer-facing companies aren’t seeing it.
Investors are tracking a new wave of coronavirus infections with concern, anxious that the Delta variant may derail the economy’s comeback. The OECD now shows US consumer sentiment veering away from a rising trend in other markets.
Yet several of the country’s largest retailers told a more bullish story in earnings announcements this week. Even industries such as restaurants and travel, that suffered most in the pandemic’s earlier peaks, are wary of blaming the Delta variant for weaker recent bookings.