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Glite Dictionary
consumer spending

consumer spending

30 2.7
Total money households spend on goods and services
  • noun
  • /kənˈsjuːmər ˈspɛndɪŋ/
  • Specialized
: gasto del consumidor
  • WASHINGTON (AP) -- Higher gas prices are crimping consumer spending and slowing the already weak U.S. economy.
  • increase consumer spending

You do because less hiring begets less consumer spending, which begets less hiring.

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Examples

  • Bernanke's stated purpose in QE2 is to spark consumer spending and thereby reignite the economy.

    Blog text (11)

  • The rate of growth in consumer spending, however, looks unsustainable.

  • The economic data continues to suggest that housing is helping consumer spending get back on its feet.

    Blog text (3)

  • The result was that household debt kept growing, as did consumer spending and credit card use.

    Blog text (9)

  • We're losing billions of dollars in consumer spending already.

    Downsizing (2017)

  • While unemployment remains high, consumer spending has perked up strongly in the last few months.

    Blog text (8)

  • Those efforts, designed to help businesses keep workers on payrolls and ease the impact of layoffs, kept consumer spending afloat.

    Patrick Boyle

  • Today, GDP is $15.6 trillion, with consumer spending accounting for 71% and capital investment only 12%.

    Blog text (4)

  • I think, if you look at the economic data, there is a lot of consumer spending.

  • What are you seeing in the economy right now in terms of consumer spending?

Synonyms

spending
vsconsumer spending
∞ 1.7

Money used to buy goods and services

is an aggregate of household payments across an entire economy
expenditure
vsconsumer spending
114 5.6

Money that a person or organization spends

focuses on household money totals within an economy rather than general resources

Antonyms

savings
606 1.0

Money put aside, often in a bank, to use later or for emergencies

Surface Forms

consumer spending singular
consumer spendings plural

Morphology

consumer + spending

The phrase's meaning — spending by consumers/households — is directly and compositionally derived from 'consumer' (buyer/users) + 'spending' (act of paying), so a learner who knows both words can infer it. This noun + gerund/compound pattern is common across languages and standard in English, making the concept immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Consumer spending gives a clear picture: a shopper is the consumer and handing over money is spending. So the phrase now means the 'total amount of money families spend on goods and services' in an economy.