American consumers won't save the economy in 2024 and their wild holiday spending spree was a 'last hurrah', Wells Fargo says

Wed, 01/24/2024 - 14:17

Shoppers have their receipts and carts checked by an employee as they exit from a Costco store in Alhambra, California, on August 19, 2019/ — Shoppers have their receipts and carts checked by an employee as they exit.
Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images

Consumers won't rescue the US economy in 2024.
That's because shoppers can't keep up their frenzied pace of spending forever, Wells Fargo warned.
The bank sees the US slipping into an economic slowdown later this year.

American consumers won't be able to prop up the US economy forever, and their wild spending spree over the holiday season was likely a "last hurrah," according to Wells Fargo.

Retail sales came in hotter-than-expected in December, rising 5.6% year-over-year. That shows consumers have than kept up with the pace of inflation but it's unlikely to last, the bank said, given the weakening economic picture.