Lower-income consumers have been hit harder by rising prices for basics. And those higher prices overall have made customers more selective when they spend on things they want rather than things they need. Higher energy prices and borrowing costs, as well as stricter credit conditions and the return of student-loan payments, have also posed threats to demand.
UBS analysts, in a research note on Thursday, said that within so-called softlines retail — that is, things like clothes — retailers were still cutting prices in an effort to clear items that shoppers don’t want.
According to the New York Fed’s Q3 Household Debt and Credit (HHDC) report, the share of debt newly transitioning into delinquency continues to rise for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rising-delinquencies-offer-economic-warning-signs-153350355.html