More Americans feel optimistic about their finances even as many have had to rely on debt to deal with lingering inflation and rising costs, according to a recent survey.
Overall, 50% of Americans said they felt positive about their current financial situation and 22% believe their financial situation will improve a year from now, up six points from one year ago, the Primerica second quarter 2023 survey said. Moreover, the number of Americans that said their financial situation would deteriorate decreased by 15 points to 26%.
The better outlook comes even as 36% said they used their credit card more in the past year, up five percentage points compared to the June 2022 survey. Similarly, 33% said their credit card debt increased over the past year, up four percentage points in the same time frame.
"After a year and a half of relatively high inflation, especially for food and energy expenses, middle-income households are being financially stressed according to the survey," Primerica's Consulting Economist Amy Crews Cutts said in a statement. "The continued strength in the labor market and easing inflation are likely reasons for the stronger optimism about the coming year in the most recent survey.
"Economic data continues to be stronger than economists expected, lowering the probability that a recession will start this year." Cutts continued. "Respondents in the Primerica survey indicate similarly that the worst seems to be behind us."
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Along with growing debt is the increasing number of Americans struggling to manage it, according to the survey.
Among those unable to pay their credit card debt in full, 61% said they found managing monthly balances difficult, an increase of three percentage points since the March 2023 survey. Carrying large month-to-month balances can sometimes have a negative impact on credit scores.
Moreover, households with lower credit scores struggled the most with rising prices. Eighty-one percent of respondents in this category have cut back on non-essentials, and 72% said they are no longer saving for the future.
"Compounding inflation over multiple years is weighing heavily on middle-income budgets," Primerica CEO Glenn Williams said. "Even as annual rates of inflation have eased, high prices are still hurting budgets. This is driving increased credit card use and higher monthly balances, indicating that families are being forced to bridge the gap."
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Americans' salaries are beating inflation for the first time in two years, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
Inflation-adjusted average hourly wages rose 1.2% in June from a year earlier, according to the Labor Department. The most significant increases were for lower-income workers.
The wage increase signals a greater likelihood that the U.S. economy might skip a recession altogether as Americans' spending power remains resilient, according to the report. However, the downside is that the Federal Reserve could take this as a sign to continue with its restrictive monetary policy and keep raising interest rates until it hits the 2% inflation target it set as a goal.
"It's great to see wage increases, particularly for people at the lower end of the income spectrum," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in June. "But we want that as part of the process of getting inflation back down to 2%, which benefits everyone."
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