Quotes from Voya Global Perspectives:
- US auto sales are up in February but are coming in shy of expectations. Surely the harsh winter weather is a factor, especially in the Northeast. But consumers generally still don't believe the lower oil prices are anything more than a temporary blip and, as a result, have yet to seriously ramp up their spending.
- Spending on energy was down 18 percent in January and consumer spending was down 0.2 percent overall. Consumers used their energy windfall to boost their savings accounts instead, and the savings rate rose from 5 percent to 5.5 percent, the highest since 2012.
- The current low oil scenario is not a blip. The blip in energy prices was the plus $100/barrel oil consumers have been living with the last few years. More supply and less demand have been working to erode energy prices for quite some time.
