MNI DATA BRIEF:US Credit Card Data Points to Weak May Spending

U.S. credit card spending stumbled through most of May, according to analysts at JP Morgan, as restrictions on business continued to limit in-person activities and consumers pulled back.

Restaurant and travel spending decelerated in April and May after spiking in February and March, with restaurant spending roughly 15% below its pre-Covid trend, according to Chase credit card data. Spending on lodging is currently 35% below trend as hotel occupancy rates plateau, and airport travelers reported by TSA are only just above the peak seen in late March. Arts and entertainment indictors "remain particularly depressed," analysts wrote, with movie box office receipts down 88% from the pre-Covid trend.

Control group retail sales in May should increase 0.4%, according to the bank's spending data, and nonfarm payrolls should increase 488,000.