Purchasing Power - Help-Wanted Index - Existing Home Sales - Finance Facts - Consumer Installment Credit - U.S. Mobility - Industrial Production - Consumer Confidence

Sep 21, 2026

Monthly consumer financial and economic indicators covering purchasing power, housing, labor demand, and credit conditions. Highlights include how inflation and taxes affect family after-tax income, tracking required earnings to preserve real purchasing power, and reporting trends in the Help-Wanted Advertising Index. It also summarizes existing home sales, consumer confidence and buying plans, and changes in consumer installment credit by major categories and institutions, along with mobility and industrial production updates for 1981.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

PURCHASING POWER

HELP-WANTED INDEX

EXISTING HOME SALES

FINANCE FACTS

CONSUMER INSTALLMENT CREDIT

U.S. MOBILITY

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

Any or all the material in this publication may be quoted or reproduced. # PURCHASING POWER Family of four must earn over $22,000 today to maintain purchasingpower of $10,000 in 1970,according to The Conference Board.Most of thisrequired increase is due to inflation that has cut purchasing power bymore than half since 1970.Although federal income taxes have been cutover decade,inflation of money income pushes middle-income family intohigher effective tax rate,and social security taxes and limits have in-creased. The $10,000 family in 1970 needed $20,097 in 1980 and will need $22,477in 1981 to stay even.Of the $22,477,$9,746 of after-tax income is neededto cover inflation since 1970.Federal income and social security taxes willsiphon off another $4,091 this year. For the $25,000 family in 1970,income after taxes resulted in $20,639.The same family in 1981 would require $59,012-$15,092 to pay Federaltaxes and $23,281 to cover inflation -to have maintained constantpurchasing power over the decade. # HELP-WANTED INDEX The Help-Wanted Advertising Index dropped three points in March,TheConference Board reported.Except for slight upturn in February,thisIndex,which is sensitive to changes in demand for labor,as well asgeneral business conditions,has been declining steadily since November1980.Seasonally-adjusted Index now stands at 126,down eight pointsfrom November's reading of 134 and 19 points below year-ago level.Want-ad volume declined in eight of nine areas of the country. # EXISTING HOME SALES Sales of existing single-family homes declined for fourth consecutivemonth in March to reach seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,520,000units,according to National Association of Realtors.This is 37%belowpeak rate achieved in November 1978 and is just 170,000 units shy ofcyclical low point reached less than year ago.Protracted housing recessionwas 28 months old in March making it not only steepest but also probablylongest housing cycle(peak to recovery)since statistics have beengathered on resale market. n March,median sales price of an existing home rose just $400 to$64,500.This increase was only enough to bring home prices back towhere they were at beginning of year.Nationwide,home prices haverisen 8.4%during last 12 months.Slower rate of price appreciation isevident in most areas of country.South is only region in which homeprices are still rising at double-digit pace. # FINANCE FACTS A Monthly Publication on Consumer Financial Behavior JUNE 1981 Singe Family Homes For the United States by manths (snasonally adjusted 1975·1981Soure:Board u Governors of the Federal Raserve System # CONSUMER INSTALLMENT CREDIT Total consumer installment credit at end March 1981 was $310.8 billion.Of this amount $117.5 billion was outstanding in automobile credit,$56.8billion in revolving credit,$17.3 billion in mobile home credit and $119.1billion in all other credit(consisting of other consumer goods and personalloans). During March 1981,total installment credit outstanding increased by $1.6billion-automobile credit increased $1.8 billion.Revolving credit wasdown $0.7 billion.Mobile home credit increased $0.4 bllion and all othercredit was up $0.1 billion. Net change over month by institution was decrease of $0.1 billion forcommercial banks.Finance company outstandings increased $1.4 billion,made up mostly of automobile credit.Credit at retailers declined $0.4billion.Credit unions increased $0.4 billion,savings and loans were up $0.3 billion. Net change in installment credit outstanding since end of March 1980amounted to increase of $1.6 billion.Revolving credit increased $2.6billion,mobile home credit $0.3 billion.Automobile credit declined $0.1billion,all other credit down $1.1 billion. Over the year finance company increase was $9.1 billion,retailers $1.5billion,savings and loans $1.8 billion,gasoline companies $1.0 billion andmutual savings banks $0.2 billion.Commercial bank outstandings de-creased $10.5 billion

FAQs

How does inflation affect purchasing power over time in the report?

The report states that inflation has cut purchasing power by more than half since 1970, substantially increasing the income needed to maintain the same real level.

What does the Help-Wanted Advertising Index indicate for March?

It reports that the index dropped three points in March, with continued steady declines since November 1980 and weaker want-ad volume across most regions.

What happened to consumer confidence and buying plans in April?

The Consumer Confidence Index increased to 74.3 from 70.9 in March, but the Buying Plans Index fell to 83.2 from 98.7, with notable drops in plans to buy autos and homes.

Sep 21, 2026

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