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Annual Consumer Statistics Summary for the Year 2010Just a few short years ago the country plummeted into the worst financial crisis since the great depression. In some areas of the country real estate prices dropped as much as 70%, and it is estimated that in the last three years the market lost several trillion dollars of value. Consumers saw their pensions decrease, retirement accounts wiped out, and stock portfolios take huge losses. Television and print media ran with the most salacious, ratings grabbing news, often promoting conflicting stories, and sometimes downright false information. DirectLendingSolutions.com is dedicated to bringing you unbiased financial data so that you, the consumer, can make educated decisions about your credit and personal finances. In keeping with that mission, the information that follows in the article below is the most recently available financial summary data for the year 2010, obtained directly from reliable government research reports and the direct data from which these reports are obtained. Among the data summarized a few categories stand out among the rest, and are referred to as leading economic indicators. Among the important indicators reviewed are Gross Domestic Product, Personal Income, Retail Sales, Residential Sales, and Residential Construction. These indicators reflect the most often referred to categories of financial data and are used to develop trends and to make assumptions about the health of our economy and state of our union. Analyzing these trends have helped economists make market predictions, which can affect everything from the prices of staple goods to interest rates, and even our nations foreign debt. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Real GDP, defined as the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States, is often referred to as a measure of the health of our country. A growing GDP suggests growth in our economy and can be a positive indicator for items like personal income, retails sales, and manufacturing industries. In 2010, real GDP increased 2.9 percent, which reflects positive contributions from sectors like exports, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), and federal government spending. This reflects positive movement made through government programs and financial incentives to companies that help employ Americans and produce products and services for export to other countries. Personal Income American Personal Income rose 3.04% in 2010 to a total of $12.5 trillion. This is a start contrast to 2009, which saw income decrease almost 2% over the year. Personal income was buoyed primarily by a rise in wage and salary disbursements as well as an increase in government disbursements to social benefits like unemployment insurance, family assistance, disability insurance, and veterans benefits. After subtracting taxes and personal outlays we are left with Personal Savings, which equaled $655 billion in 2010, practically unchanged from 2009. In 2010, personal savings fell 0.1% to 5.8%, which means Americans saved only 5.8% of their personal income, or in more plain terms, Americans saved only $6 out of every $100 earned. Resolving personal income and personal savings shows that while income rose, savings stayed the same, which suggests Americans spent more money in 2010, a number confirmed by the increase in GDP listed above. Retail Sales Retail sales, including all retail and food service business rose to a total of almost $4.5 trillion in 2010, an increase of 6.6% from 2009. This is an important indicator because it shows that people are returning to stores and continuing to purchase not only the essentials, but items that suggest a return to normal spending. In 2010 we saw across the board spending on items like automobiles (up 11%), electronics (up 2.6%), furniture (up 2.3%), and clothing (up 5%). The trend here, which has continued for the past several years, is a shift in sales from brick and mortar department stores to online and electronic retailers. In 2010, electronic sales grew by 13.5%. Overall, retail sales were helped by an increase of more than 8% in holiday spending between 2010 and 2009. The retail sales trend has been on the rise for the past two years and is expected to continue through 2011, helping grow the GDP and to stabilize our economy. Residential Sales New Residential sales dropped 7.6% from 2009, to a level of 321,000 for the year down from 375,000 in 2009. The bulk of home sales is in the price range between $200,000 to $299,000 (almost ⅓ of all sales), with $150,000 to $199,000 being a close second. The housing market news isn’t all bad though. The months of supply dropped to 6.9 months on average, and the median number of months a home sat on market dropped from 14 months to just under 8. The median home sales price also rose 2.4% to $221,900. Residential Construction The number of housing units completed in 2010 dropped from approximately 794,000 to approximately 653,000, a reduction of nearly 141,000 housing units making up a drop of 18% year over year. During the same time period building permits rose slightly, though actual units delivered dropped, suggesting more projects either stalled, couldn’t find financing, or were abandoned. The drop in new homes delivered suggests that the market was primarily concerned with clearing the glut of existing homes, the numbers of which are confirmed by the reduction in housing supply to less than 8 months, the lowest it has been in several years. Employment Data In 2010, the number of unemployed people dropped one half percent to 9.4%, down from 9.9% the previous year. While that number seems to be pointing in the right direction, digging deeper uncovers a more startling number, the marginally attached worker - those not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them, which increased more than 389,000 since December of 2009. Almost 9 million people report working part-time, having their hours and/or wages cut, or have not been able to find full-time work. Summary These leading indicators certainly don’t paint a rosy picture, but they show do positive growth in key sectors such as income and employment, and a positive trend toward a more stable economy. Related Pages in Our Site: 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
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