Grubb & Ellis Montana Commercial, LLC

Monthly Change in Total Consumer Credit Seasonally Adjusted Annual RateMarch 8, 2010

Overshadowed by Friday’s employment situation report from the Labor Department, the Federal Reserve released its G19 report, which stated that total consumer credit increased by 2.4 percent in January, ending a string of 11 consecutive monthly declines. This report, together with last week’s report from ICSC that chain store sales rose by 3.7 percent in February, suggests that consumers are beginning to climb out of their bunkers and cautiously make some purchases that they put on hold last year. If the trend continues, it would be good news not only for retailers and shopping center landlords but also for overall GDP, 70 percent of which is fueled by consumer spending. Source: Federal Reserve, Grubb & Ellis

Bob Bach is our Senior Vice President, Chief Economist

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 10:55 am and is filed under Weekly Market Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.