“U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in more than 9-1/2 years in March as households stepped up purchases of motor vehicles, but price pressures remained muted, with a key inflation measure posting its smallest annual gain in 14 months,” Lucia Mutikani reports for Reuters.
“The surge in consumer spending reported by the Commerce Department on Monday sets a stronger base for growth in consumption heading into the second quarter after it slowed sharply in the first three months of the year,” Mutikani reports. “Fed officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to assess the economy and deliberate on the future course of monetary policy. The U.S. central bank in March dropped forecasts for any interest rate increases this year, halting a three-year policy tightening campaign.”
“Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, surged 0.9 percent. That was the biggest rise since August 2009,” Mutikani reports. “March’s surge in real consumer spending suggested an acceleration in consumption was likely in the second quarter. Consumer spending increased at a 1.2 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, the slowest in a year. The overall economy grew at a 3.2 percent rate last quarter… a strong labor market and still very high savings are seen underpinning spending. Wages rose 0.4 percent in March after advancing 0.3 percent in the prior month. Savings fell to $1.03 trillion in March from $1.16 trillion in February.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Increased disposable personal income and strong consumer spending are always good news for companies who sell coveted goods and services like Apple Inc.
In Q119, the Americas accounted for 36.94% of Apple revenue, by far the largest country/region (Europe: 20.36%, Greater China: 13.17%, Japan: 6.91%, Rest of Asia Pacific: 6.93%).
SEE ALSO:
U.S. economy grows by 3.2% in the first quarter, topping expectations – April 26, 2019
U.S. jobless claims at 50-year low – April 11, 2019
Billionaire CEO Benioff foresees several years of strong growth for U.S. economy – November 28, 2018
U.S. again assumes throne as world’s most competitive economy; first time since 2008 – October 17, 2018
U.S. unemployment rate hits the lowest level in nearly 50 years – October 5, 2018
How President Trump created a tremendous U.S. economic boom – September 7, 2018
U.S. economy logs best performance in nearly 4 years – August 29, 2018
Consumer confidence pops in August to highest level since October 2000 – August 29, 2018
Second-quarter U.S. GDP jumps 4.1% boosting hopes that economy is ready to break out of decade-long slumber – July 27, 2018
Dow rises as Wall Street weighs strong U.S. jobs report, Trump administration’s China tariffs – July 6, 2018
What Apple’s $100 billion buyback plan says about President Trump’s tax cuts – May 2, 2018
U.S. consumer confidence hits 14-year high – March 16, 2018
Abracadabra!
The only reason I logged on after reading the headline is that I knew F2T2 would be probably the first to submit a moronic comment. This was too easy….and yes, he is still a moron.
And the only reason i logged in was to get a laugh from Mike’s ( and alike) delusional 2 page ‘lecture’ posts, desperately trying to discredit any positive news related to Trump or his administration.
Amen, brother! 👍🏻👊🏻👏🏻
You laugh because you cannot comprehend big numbers?
NO. We are laughing with you how totally clueless and partisan blind you are when it comes to record accomplishments of President Trump. Cherry picking retorts are just that, something you and your ilk are experts at practicing. The good news is your political opinions will not change the facts. Stick to your analysis and constructive criticism of Apple you excel at when you actually reflect reality for a CHANGE…
What is NEVER easy for liberal mental midgets is to comprehend and understand the positive good news during the Trump administration…
Like you ignored the positive 8 years of the Obama administration.
Got it.
Positive what?
The slowest recession recovery ever?
The horrible foreign policy?
The increase in racial tensions?
The almost CRIMINAL rise in healthcare?
The politicalization of the FBI, NSA, CIA and DOJ?
Good God I know libs live in a bubble and Obama will ALWAYS be your hero for reasons that don’t apply to most, but if you really want to appear rational you’ll never look back at those 8 years as a plus for America in any way other than voting a Black person to the Presidency.
And if you think the economy was so good because everyone in your echo-chamber and the media (same thing…) said so then keep in mind the media hasn’t reported honestly about the economy since Jimmy Carter, which lost him the election (that and the Iranians). Because of that they have never reported fairly between Republican and Democratic administrations. It doesn’t matter how good things are under a Conservative, they claim it is all about to end, and no matter how slow under a Liberal, good times are JUST around the corner…..constantly.
After a rough start and correction the Reagan economy took off yet the media downplayed it as never good enough and played up a small recession so much to get Clinton elected that it was actually over before the Dems took office.
Clinton’s ‘balanced budget’ that the left claims was passed by the Republican Congress and the weakened Clinton signed it.
Bush did a good job with the economy other than not pushing Congress harder to stop the home loan boondoggle….thank you Democrats!. That may not be the ONLY reason the economy crashed in 2008 to help Obama into office but it was the catalyst and Obama took advantage of it to use fear and shove a horrible agenda down our throats.
Out economy being what it is managed to struggle through all this shit but its success now is Trump removing most of the unneeded burden and mafia-like control that Obama used over them.
Oh I forgot, you have your ‘education’ and resources that say the complete opposite. What a sparkling, bubbly life you lead…
Obama was not a hero. He was a lesser of two evils who at least spoke with dignity and respect. In your revisionist history, Obama is to blame for a $5trillion and counting war in Iraq, for underregulating banks leading to the mortgage implosion months before Obama took office, and so forth. And as a perfect indication of your partisan blinders, whenever anyone points out Trump’s corruption, you and your cohorts immediately spring up to attack democrats who haven’t been relevant in years. Let’s talk about the trajectory the US is not RIGHT NOW. It’s unsustainable and Trump is doing nothing to make corrections as he promised. While you defend Feckless Trump, modern Rome burns. China grows more powerful (thanks to corporations like Apple enriching them). And Americans are bickering instead of pragmatically fixing the corruption and problems facing the nation.
blah.. blah, blah, blah… blah
The slowest recession recovery ever?
LOL. Do you hear yourself? You snivel and whine because it took 2 weeks to o from deaths door to full recovery instead of 12 days. You don’t have the mental capacity t understand my pon so I will just leave that here.
The horrible foreign policy?
Please explain this ignorant pile of crap that should have come out of your ass but you claim as your brain. Give me examples.
The increase in racial tensions?
See response above.
The almost CRIMINAL rise in healthcare?
LOL. I’m sorry you are such a loser that you have health issues. I myself and others have and had no issues with health insurance or healthcare. It is the loser, the pathetic, the whiners that make this complaint. Oh yeah… and the victims of your state representatives. The people that shat on you and decided you didn’t matter enough to help you out. I’m sitting here in my BLUE STATE swimming in health insurance and healthcare options. You… whining and sniveling like the pile of excrement you want to be.
The politicalization of the FBI, NSA, CIA and DOJ?
Seriously. Did Alex jones shove that stick up your ass or did you do it willingly? Please let us mere mortals know.
Spare my your pathetic, whiny, snively attitude and hate.
Not one damn reference to the actual facts of the Obama Administration. You did reach deep in your ass to pull ‘facts’ out of your brain about ronald raygun and others but fail to even address the stock market doubling, unemployment going from 10% to 4% under the Obama administration. Don’t mention that wooden head. Don’t mention the millions of Americans not bankrupt and out of their homes saved during the Obama administration. Don’t mention the economy completely melting down as bank after bank, financial firm after financial firm goes bankrupt and the repercussions of that.
No. You whine and snivel just like trump. That mean black man made your life pitiful and pathetic.
Shut up.
Yeah. I have a sparkly, bubbly life.
I’m not a pathetic loser like you looking for someone to blame for you being a loser.
LOL… mafia like control. think for yourself for once idiot.
Let me update that.
You actually attach your lips to a ‘mafia like’ petty criminal and accuse President Obama of it.
I’d say you are crazy but that would be a lie. You are willfully stupid.
I’ll give you credit for one thing. At least you are not an anonymous coward. Stupid, but not anonymous.
You two idiots haven’t got a lick of sense between you.
I never blamed Obama for either war (which he claimed he would end but didn’t) or bank regulations. Learn to read, but then you would have to know how to read to read “learn to read”.
Cit X-That is about the most pathetic response you have EVER made to me. Not one thing I said isn’t verifiable, but ignorance is bliss.
Your bubble is more like a plastic bag over your brain.
Too bad about that lack of oxygen.
My insurance was group insurance through my job. Had nothing to do with my health. At the time I was still climbing 500′ towers when I was 54. I doubt VERY seriously if you are in that type of health or condition know matter your age.
If I have to explain foreign policy to you then we’ll be here all day.
Short story…nothing he tried worked, especially in the Middle East (where my wife is from).
Trump’s corruption. Unicorns. Take your pick. Neither exist no matter how much they are written about, not one bit of evidence.
Barry’s corruption? I’m sure you have NO idea. Damn that bag is tight!!
also here (sorry if the words are too big, cause I know how full your brain is).
https://www.cfr.org/report/quarterly-update-us-economic-recovery-historical-context
Trump’s Magic Wand is called a spine.
Is that why he flip flops constantly?
First Bullshitter has nothing constructive to say, so he’s chosen to throw mud on his orange hero’s predecessor. What First Whatever doesn’t understand is that runaway consumer debt, fuelled in part by extremely low lending rates and unscrupulous underregulated lenders, is driving the US to the brink. While Obama committed the mortal sin of saving the banks from implosion, Trump commits an equally bad offense: deregulating those banks even further. Not to mention politicizing the Fed and demanding lower interest rates, ignoring the inflationary risks that must be monitored and counteracted…
In the entire history of the United States, consumers have never been in so much debt: over $4 trillion in small loans alone. Add $1.3 trillion in bloated US-megasize gas guzzler auto loans. Add mortgage debt and the US consumer is $13.5 trillion in debt.
Current credit card outstanding balance is $870 billion, with 56% of Americans unable or too stupid to pay their accounts off monthly.
Millenials, Apple’s most important focus group, is more than a trillion in debt, the worst ever fiscal position of any generation at that age of life in the US.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-13/12-statistics-prove-us-facing-consumer-debt-apocalypse
Things are equally dire at the national level. Since President Donald Trump took office, the US has added over $2.1 trillion in new federal debt. Total federal debt is over $22 trillion. Look at that again: Trump added almost 10% debt in 2 years. He’s on course to make Obama’s debt (costs actually incurred during Bush II’s administration) look small.
When the next recession hits, with the US having no reserves to weather the storm, you can blame a rudderless Trump administration for not bothering to prepare. Trump needlessly pumped up the national debt despite promising the opposite on the campaign trail. For the current fiscal year, the Trump budget is running over a trillion ($1,000,000,000,000) IN THE RED. That is as bad as the payback from the Bush II recession and war expenses, which Obama actually put on the national budget. Why can’t Trump honor his campaign promise and rein in spending?
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-budget-increases-national-debt-deficit-2019-3
Trump never could resist a bimbo with silicone tatas. If you want to know about Trumps wand, several women are happy to share the details.
The US auto industries have had lows sales for years now. Though SUV and truck sales have grown, they represent a small foot print of the types of vehicles, but have a much larger profit margin. In 2018 Ford announced they are existing the car market concentrating on trucks and SUV’s by 2022. GM in the same year also announce closing of factories, eliminating 15K workers and eliminating 6 car models.
Just last week GM stated that cars represent only 20% of their sales. While trucks and SUV’s represent 80%. They have clearly conceded cars sale to the Japanese and Koreans. They believe they can survive with much fewer but more expensive products.
And, this is a statement of the American public wanting bigger vehicles. It’s not The fault of Trump.
Actually, the size of vehicles has much to do with the price of gasoline, which US taxpayers subsidize. This market manipulation leads to Americans choosing vehicles that are thirsty, making them less able to cope with any oil price volatility to come. Perhaps you did not live through the OPEC embargo. Don’t pretend it can’t happen again. This is precisely why every president since Reagan including Trump has cowtowed to the Saudis. Trump of course takes credit whenever oil prices momentarily drop, but the last decade’s glut of cheap oil cam from fracking, a technology that enabled a nice boost in short term domestic product but which will play out in the foreseeable future. Trump the Campaigner never delivered on his 400,000 promised new oil jobs. As Trump campaigns OPEC to keep the taps open, he harms several US producers that cannot match prices with the imports.
FYI, global oil price has been climbing steadily in 2019 since the Q4 2018 economic corrections. OPEC will almost certainly cut output to achieve its $85 price target or higher.
Many of us pragmatists think we are squandering an amazing resource. What has taken millions of years to produce is being burned up in a matter of a few hundred years. There are necessary uses for oil that, if managed properly, will last this planet a long time. There are better uses for oil than simply inefficiently burning it up in autos which have dramatically higher capabilities than the average driver ever uses. Are we not smarter than that?
So this happened during Trump, not with the Obamanation????
Say it ain’t so!!!!
President Trump has delivered more economic good news and RECORD NUMBERS in a little over two years than eight years of the limping along Obama economy combined. MAGA… 👍🏻🇺🇸😆
Natural population growth and a stagnant economy would lead to RECORD NUMBERS every year, wise guy.
Trump promised an economic boom, and GDP growth since 2017 has CONSISTENTLY lagged the growth that occurred under Obama. You can find the data to prove it, if you weren’t so lazy.
America has been great for over a century. Whatever you mean by MAGA must be unmeasurable, because your hero isn’t delivering anything a trained monkey couldn’t.
Despite your abundant faith, the economic news following the republican tax gift to themselves (at the expense of working classes and future generations who will have to pay off this debt with interest) ain’t all wonderful. Reuters reports that US manufacturing has slowed to a 2.5 year low. The US Commerce Dept reports construction spending slowed 0.9% in March. In other words, the tax break sugar high has worn off.
You know what really happened. Corporations bought back their own stock and hired just a few workers here and there, but there was no massive wave of new factory growth in the US. The much-flaunted factory openings from foreign firms like Foxconn haven’t materialized. Trump makes matters worse with this anti-trade rhetoric and inability to actually finalize any meaningful improvements to NAFTA 2 as promised. Many more details here:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/u-s-factory-activity-at-two-and-half-year-low-points-to-slowing-economy-idUSKCN1S743Q
Can someone please look at Trump’s daily calendar (it’s publicly available) and show me precisely what you think he is doing to improve the competitiveness of manufacturing in the US? He can’t even convince his good buddy Timmy Apple, a company with more unused cash in the Caribbean than most any country on the planet, to invest in new manufacturing capablity in the US. Why?