Likely thanks to unexpected temperate weather–most people weren’t stuck at home for extended periods due to massive snowstorms–consumer spending in the United States took an unexpected jump in January as pundits’ fears of an impending recession reduced, ABC News reports.
Consumer spending jumped 3% in January, following up on a disappointing holiday spending season, with restaurant sales skyrocketing 7.2% over December. Year-over-year restaurant sales increased an incredible 25%, largely due to easing coronavirus concerns. The data are not adjusted for inflation, which obviously plays a part in the spending increases, but typically consumer sales fall between December and January, so an increase is a pleasant surprise.
In other non-impending economic doom news, Goldman Sachs modified its economic forecast to lower the risk of a recession in the US from 35% to 25%, following the release of last week’s jobs report which showed a growth of more than half a million jobs in January. Additionally, the Fed announced plans to increase interest rates to between 5% and 5.25% to quell inflation.