Consumers kept the economy hot in 2022. Now they’re losing steam
Minneapolis
CNN
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For a year that held promise of a return to normalcy, 2022 threw plenty of curve balls at the American consumer.
Supply chains remained in disarray as ongoing snarls were drastically worsened by lockdowns in China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, average US gas prices shot north of $5 per gallon for the first time ever, inflation spiked to levels not seen since the early 1980s, and interest rates quickly soared as the Federal Reserve dug in its heels and took a whatever-it-takes approach to rein in soaring prices.
Consumers armed with plenty of pandemic-induced pent-up demand and bountiful financial buffers kept the economy churning throughout much of 2022. Spending, adjusted for inflation, remained above 2021 levels, landing at 2% as of November, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“In…
