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Amid recession fears, a government shutdown and tariff uncertainty, consumers are increasingly diverging in their spending.<\/p>\n
Wealthier Americans are engaging their purchasing power, while lower-income Americans are starting to pull back \u2014 commonly described as a “K-shaped” economy. Friday’s consumer price index report could shed more light on the pressures facing large swaths of the country.<\/p>\n
The CPI report, which measures price changes across a range of goods and services, was delayed<\/a> due to the government shutdown, originally scheduled to be released nine days prior. Though the report will not include any data related to the shutdown, it will offer a read on the state of inflation ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline for the Social Security Administration to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments.<\/p>\n Lower- and middle-income consumers have been hit hardest by rising costs on daily essentials like groceries and gas. Meanwhile, wealthier investors have benefited<\/a> from stock market rallies and rising home values. Recent data<\/a> from JPMorgan’s<\/a>