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Consumer Pulse Wave 9

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TransUnion's Wave 9 US Consumer Pulse Study Released

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:  

  • Job loss for financially impacted African Americans rose to 32%, up 6 percentage points since our last study, and 14 points higher than white consumers (18%). Overall, African Americans face greater financial impact due to COVID-19 (63%) compared to white consumers (56%). Seventy-nine percent (79%) of impacted African Americans are concerned about how to pay their bills and loans compared to 64% of white consumers, and they estimate they will be unable to pay in 4.9 weeks, down from 6.0 weeks in wave 8.
  • As impacted Americans exhaust planned use of the stimulus check (30% vs. 38% wave 8), consumer behavior reflecting economic anxiety has increased. A quarter (26%) of impacted consumers are cutting back on saving for retirement (+3 percentage points) and 16% are refinancing current rates (+5 pp). Intent to apply for new credit is at its highest levels since early March, with 15% intending to apply for personal loans and 12% intending to apply for new credit cards.
  • As states and local communities continue adopting varied reopening plans, consumers under a stay-at-home order report higher financial impact (63%) than those in areas without such mandates (49%). Of those impacted in partially reopened areas, 59% are concerned about being able to pay their bills and loans, and they state they will run out of money in 6.4 weeks. In comparison, 74% of impacted consumers in stay-at-home areas are worried about being able to pay; this segment has 5.6 weeks until they run out of money for bills and loans.