Despite Qualms About Economy, Americans Spending More than Last Year - East Idaho News
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Despite Qualms About Economy, Americans Spending More than Last Year

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getty 100114 spendingmoney?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1412160730166iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — In spite of polls that show most Americans are still feeling gloomy about the economy, people in the U.S. have spent more in 2014 than they have in the last couple of years and plan to do so right up through the end of the holiday shopping season.

At least that’s what a survey by American Express Spending & Saving Tracker found. For instance, 11 percent said their spending on jewelry items is up from both 2013 and 2012.

In terms of shopping for personal extras that include fashion accessories and leisure activities, 73 percent spent as much or more than they expected to in 2014, compared to 66 percent who answered that way in 2013.

During the first nine months of this year, 42 percent of Americans have bought big-ticket items as opposed to 39 percent in 2013. However, 62 percent say they’re still going to make a large purchase before the year’s out. In last year’s poll, 51 percent at this time had plans to make a large buy.

Perhaps most telling of all is that 81 percent of respondents say their job is more stable or just as stable as it was a year earlier, an increase from 69 percent last year.

And yet, a majority of Americans, in other surveys, say the country is still in the midst of a recession.


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