Yardeni Research says that U.S. families spend the equivalent of $5,000 a year on fuel, which is up from $2,800 a year ago.
Yardeni said that the average amount spent on gas each year was $3,800 in March. During the week of May 16, the price of gas at the pump hit a record high of $4.59 per gallon, the company said.
“It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Consumer Sentiment Index is so low.” “It’s a miracle that retail sales have been such strong areas in April and May,” Yardeni wrote in a note.
Yardeni said that buyers’ wages aren’t growing much, but they have a lot of savings and are charging more for Visas.
But Yardeni said that you shouldn’t bet against the U.S. buyer: “When we are happy, we spend money.” When we’re feeling down, we spend a lot more money! “
The information about retail deals for April, which came out on Tuesday, was shockingly strong in some areas.
From the same time last year to the same time this year, retail sales went up 8.2% for the month.
In April, gas prices went down for a short time before going up again and staying the same in May.
According to data from the Commerce Department, people spent almost 37 percent more on fuel in April than they did a year earlier.
AAA says that a year ago, one gallon of gas cost $3.04.
AAA says that the average price of a gallon of gas in all 50 states went over $4 this week.
According to the AAA website, the average price for the public on Wednesday was $4.57 per gallon.
