Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) just admitted that tariff pain is finally showing up in our grocery bills and online carts. After some rosy early estimates, it turns out real personal spending barely budged in Q1 and people actually cut back on non?essentials by almost one percent.
Shoppers had stocked up ahead of the levies, so the worst of the price hikes was hidden for a while. Now that those shelves are running low, the higher costs on appliances, cars and other big?ticket items are hitting home.
Even eating out isn’t booming like beforerestaurants saw only a tiny bump in trafficwhile splurges like air travel and ride?sharing are taking a real hit. Folks are clearly tightening their belts.
According to Wells Fargo’s Tim Quinlan, the real shock is coming once all those pre?tariff inventories are gone. Until then, we got lucky. Going forward, though, every tag at the checkout could feel a lot heavier.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.