Who's Doing The Spending 8/20/26
Speakers
Unnamed Analyst
— Political Commentator
Jessica Ettinger
— Anchor, CNBC
Summary
This CNBC Your Money Minute covers consumer spending trends and who is driving growth. July spending slowed from May and June but still grew 5%, with lower-income households leading that growth. Discretionary spending remains high because the labor market is improving and lower-income wage growth is the strongest since March 2023. The takeaway is that labor market strength should continue to support the consumer.
- July spending slowed from May and June but still grew 5%
- Lower-income households drove July spending growth
- Discretionary spending remained high despite inflation weariness
- Wages are still rising, with lower-income wage growth strongest since March 2023
- Consumers may be adapting by trading down
- Labor market support is seen as key for consumer spending
Ideas
Labor market supports consumer discretionary spending
Consumer discretionary spending remains strong because the labor market is improving and wage growth is accelerating, especially for lower-income households, where wage growth is the strongest since March 2023. That labor market support is likely to keep supporting the consumer even as inflation-weary shoppers adapt by trading down.
Up Next
This CNBC video, published August 20, 2026, features Unnamed Analyst discussing XLY. 1 trade idea extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers: Unnamed Analyst · Tickers: XLY