Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at the RMS consultancy, estimated that the repayments will over time amount to a nearly $40 billion reduction in disposable income.
And it’s a customer base that prefers brands, prompting Sole to single out American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Foot Locker Inc., Gap Inc., Nordstrom Inc., Under Armour Inc. and Victoria’s Secret & Co. as among those likely to be hit hardest by the student loan restart. House leaders said the broader debt deal would “save taxpayers trillions of dollars by reclaiming unused COVID[-19] funds, stopping Biden’s student loan giveaway to the wealthy, and defunding his army of IRS agents.”
“The consumer’s going to spend until they can’t,” said Mike Graziano, consumer products senior analyst at RSM. “Consumers don’t stop spending when they should — they stop spending when they have to stop.” Apparel, he said, jumped from 3.1 percent of monthly consumption in the five years before the pandemic to 3.5 percent in 2021, with the sector now reverting back closer to its norm.