Part 1. Vocabulary
|
skittish |
/ˈskidiSH/
adj. - (of
people and animals) nervous or easily frightened You've
probably seen skittish horses in parades — the loud noises and crowds of
people make them very nervous and jumpy. |
|
mobility |
/mōˈbilədē/
n. - the ability
to move or be moved freely and easily: "Exercise
helps retain mobility in the damaged joints" |
|
index |
/ˈinˌdeks/ n. - an
indicator, sign, or measure of something: "Exam
results may serve as an index of the teacher's effectiveness" |
|
discretionary |
/dəˈskreSHəˌnerē/
adj. - available
for use at the discretion of the user: "Rules
are inevitably less flexible than a discretionary policy" |
|
winding down |
/ waɪnd ˈdau̇n/
v. phrase - To cause something to slow and near an ending. Things will begin to wind down at the end of the summer. |
|
rebound |
/ˌriːˈbaʊnd/
v. - to return to
an earlier and better condition; improve: Older athletes find it harder to
rebound from injuries. |
Part 2. Article Reading
Consumers are feeling more skittish about their spending,
with new data on consumer sentiment reflecting “the least favorable economic
prospects in more than a decade,” according to the University of Michigan’s
August survey, which recorded one of the sharpest ever plunges in the survey’s
history.
The headline index figure of 70.3 reflected a 13.4 percent
drop from the previous month, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier.
“It wasn’t a total surprise, but… we think it primarily
reflects the reality set in that the pandemic is not, in fact, over, and
there's significant uncertainty regarding where things are going from here,”
said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research.
“The surge of the delta variant has started to impact how
comfortable consumers feel being out in public,” said Greg McBride, chief
financial analyst at Bankrate. A drop in people’s mobility and willingness to
engage in activities outside the home could distort where, how and to what
extent they spend their discretionary income. McBride said economists are most
likely to see this hesitancy reflected in a pullback in service-sector
purchases like plane tickets and restaurant meals.
Some already see manifestations of more cautious consumption
in recent data. Retail sales for July disappointed, falling 1.1 percent — about
three-quarters of a percentage point higher than expectations — with especially
sharp declines in cars, clothes, and sporting goods, according to the Commerce
Department.
Retail spending this fall could be further constrained by
the winding down of the emergency unemployment insurance programs that provided
fiscal stimulus and financial support to millions of jobless Americans, Nelson
predicted. “We do think that will have a significant negative impact, but it
will be mitigated somewhat by the child tax payments,” he said.
“The delta variant is still the biggest near-term risk for
retail spending, and if we see a rebound in eCommerce because of it and
consumers staying away from stores, that's going to really hurt retailers,”
Nelson said since in-store sales yield higher margins than their digital
counterparts. [By Martha C. White]
Read full
article https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/delta-variant-making-consumers-pull-back-their-spending-new-data-n1277817