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02/08/2010 -
Merchant accounts can expect to experience an influx of credit card payments as wages begin to rise.Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has announced that an upwards trend in wages is expected to spur household spending over the new few quarters, Bloomberg writes.
While consumer confidence has suffered in the past few months, consumer spending which accounts for approximately 70 percent of the economy is expected to continue its modest expansion even with “notable restraints on the recovery” such as housing, commercial real estate and the labor market, Bernanke said to the Southern Legislative Conference, the source reports.
A recent report found that in July, the U.S. economy had slowed to a 2.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, as unemployment continued to negatively impact consumer spending, Bloombergs notes.
The Consumer Confidence Index revealed that the government will have to convince consumers that the economy is on the road to recovery before expecting a significant rebound. In July, consumer confidence dropped nearly 4 points to 50.4 from 54.3 in June.
