Key insights about US consumers from Deloitte’s State of the Consumer Tracker

• Deloitte’s financial wellbeing index improved slightly to 98.3 in August from 95.9 in July. The index has traveled in a relatively tight range throughout 2023, well above the lows seen during inflation’s peak months in 2022 (figure 1).
• Anxiety around the direction of the economy and personal finances has also remained steady over the past year. However, one in four US respondents cited feeling anxious about their employment situation in August, up eight points year over year (figure 2).
• Consumer spending intentions (the amount consumers estimate spending in the month ahead) have improved since April, but are yet to surpass the 2021 baseline (figure 3).
• Spending intentions within more discretionary categories continue to signal weakened spending confidence, but spending sentiment varies across categories. For example, summer spending intentions for leisure travel were generally even compared to last year, while categories like restaurants and consumer electronics remain on a longer-term downtrend (figure 4).