The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) recently shared insights on the current state of the U.S. economy in an interview with U.S. News and World Report. Tim Gill, AFSA’s chief economist, discussed findings from the organization’s latest C3 Index, which was released earlier this week.
According to the C3 Index, lenders continue to hold a positive outlook. They noted improvements in business costs and reported that customer demand for financing met expectations. The report also indicated "cautious optimism that the current business environment would remain." The full C3 Index report is available at https://afsaonline.org/research/c3-index/.
The release of AFSA’s index came just before the government announced new Producer Price Index (PPI) data showing a 0.9% increase for July, surpassing economists’ expectations of a 0.2% rise after no change in June.
Gill addressed broader economic concerns impacting consumers: "While some economic drivers may be out of consumers’ control the ability to readily finance a vehicle, a new air conditioning unit, or back to school expenses is both crucial to consumers and the broader economy." He added: "Now is not the time for policymakers to be using uncertainty to push unhelpful proposals that might hinder access to the financial flexibility that consumers say they need."