‘Nobody escaped’: Walmart, Bank of America, TransUnion raise major red flag over US consumers. Protect your nest egg now
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America’s economy may still be growing, but beneath the headline numbers, some of the country’s biggest companies and financial institutions are seeing a troubling sign.
Take Walmart. Few companies have a better window into the American consumer, with more than 150 million (1) U.S. customers visiting its stores and websites each week. So, when its executives notice shoppers changing their behavior, it’s worth paying attention.
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Walmart CEO John Furner recently identified one particular
“That’s really the stress point, is the price of fuel,” Furner said (2), adding, “Hopefully, we see some relief on energy prices.”
Walmart CFO John David Rainey has pointed to an even more tangible sign of the squeeze: Customers were filling their gas tanks with fewer than 10 gallons per visit on average.
“That’s an indication of stress,” Rainey said (3).
For someone with a tight budget, buying less fuel at a time can be a way of managing cash flow when a full tank has simply become too expensive.
And the pressure may not stay confined to the pump. Rainey warned that persistently high fuel costs could eventually feed into the prices of other products, as transportation and energy expenses work their way through the economy.
Bank of America’s own customer data tells a similar story.
Its May 2026 Consumer Checkpoint showed overall spending growth, but it also found (4) “signs of stress beneath the surface for some households.”
In particular, lower- and middle-income households were pulling back on discretionary spending, while the wage gains enjoyed by lower-income households over the previous year were barely enough to cover their increase in gasoline spending.
TransUnion is seeing the strain from another angle: Americans’ credit profiles.
“Everyone has seen the effects of inflation somewhat equally — nobody escaped it,” said (5) Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. Research and Consulting at TransUnion.
