Consumer Pulse Wave 5

We’ve just released the latest TransUnion US Consumer Pulse Study — a quarterly survey exploring how consumers’ personal finances have changed and what changes they expect in the future. Here are the key takeaways:  

• This week, key metrics have plateaued. Week-over-week, 61% of consumers remain financially impacted; the proportion of job loss among impacted consumers remains at 18%, and people continue to estimate that they have 6.1 weeks until they are unable to pay bills. There has been a 4 percentage point improvement in consumers reaching out to their lenders, up from 46% last week. Additionally, the percentage of those unsure how they will pay bills (13%) continues to drop.
• Regional differences emerged, with consumers in the West (66%) and Northeast (63%) experiencing the most financial impact.
• Shelter — mortgage and rent payments — continues to be the top financial concern (54%) among impacted consumers.
• For the first time, we looked at household composition. 69% of households with children reported a negative impact on their income which is 14 percentage points higher than households without children (55%).