State of the US consumer: August 2025
Discretionary spending intentions rebound amid sluggish financial sentiment
Article
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2-min read
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29 August 2025
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Consumer Industry Center
Key insights about US consumers from Deloitte’s ConsumerSignals
- Financial well-being held steady in July, signaling a pause in its month-over-month decline. However, broader trends remain downward (figure 1).
- Expectations of higher prices in major categories like gas and groceries have steadily climbed through the year, possibly suggesting consumers are bracing for an ongoing cost-of-living squeeze (figure 2).
- Despite the reported erosion in financial confidence, discretionary spending intentions have rebounded for three consecutive months (figure 3).
- Notably, leisure travel—previously an area of strength in the post–COVID-19 pandemic recovery—has begun to cool, retreating after intentions reached a three-year high last month (figure 4).
- However, other discretionary categories are seeing renewed interest from respondents, suggesting consumers may be selectively reengaging in nonessential spending (figure 4).
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BY
Stephen Rogers
United States
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