Fortune | FORTUNE 09月25日
经济分化:富裕人群与年轻群体境遇差异分析
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经济正呈现两极分化趋势,富裕且年长的人群比年轻群体境遇明显更好。牛津经济研究院指出,尽管整体消费者前景乐观,但繁荣与生存之间的鸿沟正在加深。疫情后的通胀飙升加剧了这种分化,尤其影响了低收入和年轻家庭的可支配支出。关税和财政政策的变化对低收入群体造成负面影响,而高收入群体则从中受益。劳动力市场也反映出这种差异,年轻和贫困工人面临更严峻的就业条件,长期失业率上升。小企业裁员较多,而大企业则在增加员工数量。总体而言,经济分化主要体现在收入层面,并对不同代际产生影响,年轻消费者面临更大的支出压力。

💰 **经济两极分化加剧**:文章指出,当前经济呈现出明显的“分叉”现象,富裕且年长的人群在就业、晋升和消费方面明显优于年轻群体。这种分化自疫情后的通胀飙升以来尤为突出,并预计将进一步扩大。

📉 **低收入和年轻群体受冲击最大**:高通胀和政策变化(如关税)不成比例地影响了低收入和年轻家庭的可支配支出。牛津经济研究院的数据显示,未来十年,最低收入群体的实际收入将受到约2.5%的负面影响,而高收入群体则受益于财政政策。

💼 **劳动力市场差异显现**:就业市场的冷却对年轻和贫困工人影响尤为显著。尽管总体失业率较低,但招聘率下降和失业持续时间增加,导致就业者与无业者之间的消费差距拉大。小企业在裁员方面受到的冲击也大于大企业。

💸 **高收入群体是经济主要驱动力**:文章援引分析指出,经济的持续运行很大程度上依赖于富裕人群的消费支出。如果高收入群体变得更加谨慎,经济将面临严峻挑战。这凸显了收入水平在当前经济分化中的核心作用。

If you’re struggling to find a job, get a promotion, or shop the way you used to, you’re not an anomaly. In fact, you’re on one side of a “bifurcated” economy where wealthier, older people are fairing markedly better than their younger counterparts.

That’s according to Oxford Economics, who wrote that overall the outlook for consumers is “optimistic” but that the divide between those thriving and those surviving is deepening—and is expected to diverge even further.

“Consumer bifurcation took hold with the post-pandemic inflation surge, disproportionately impacting discretionary spending for low-income and younger households,” Michael Pearce, deputy chief U.S. economist wrote in a note seen by Fortune. Pearce adds that while tariffs present a smaller shock across the board, they nonetheless will have the largest impact on low-income households.

Using data from Haver Analytics and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Oxford Economics found that tariffs and changes to the fiscal landscape will have a negative net impact on real income for the lowest 0% to 20% of earners, of approximately 2.5% over the next 10 years.

Conversely, the packages outlined by the Trump administration increasingly benefit those higher up the income ladder. Those in the 40% to 60% income segment will see a negative impact on their spending power (a little over -0.5%) while fiscal packages will boost them approximately 1%. Meanwhile in the top percentile—80% to 100%—fiscal packages will boost real post-tax incomes by more than 2% while being offset by a modest 0.5% drop due to tariffs.

“Tariffs are a tax on all consumers. Based on current tariffs, we estimate they’ll increase average household costs by $450 annually, equivalent to around 0.6% of spending,” Pearce wrote.

He added: “The CBO’s distributional analysis reveals the tax and spending bill’s effects as regressive. Higher-income households benefit most from tax cuts. Low-income households face challenges due to cuts in SNAP and Medicaid benefits. The SNAP cuts will phase in starting next year, severely impacting the South and West.”

A tougher labor market

Pearce points out this divide is not only embedded because of the pandemic but also expected to continue because of a tough labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics wrote in its most recent update that the number of new entrants into the market—unemployed people looking for their first job—decreased by 199,000 in August to 786,000.

However, Macquarie’s lead U.S. economist previously told Fortune that this is an established pattern, one which is likely to rebound in September or October. The reason, Doyle outlined, is that over the summer months younger entrants may pick up some seasonal work meaning they don’t need to register as unemployed. When that work dries up, claimants rise.

Digging deeper into the data, Pearce writes: “Besides policy changes, the labor market drives consumer divergence. It reveals stark contrasts between employed and unemployed individuals. Younger and poorer workers experience the most rapid cooling of conditions. A tightening labor market in the years ahead may alleviate some of these disparities, though structural elements could persist.

“While the unemployment rate has remained low, the labor market has become less dynamic, with hiring rates depressed, even as layoffs remain low. That is creating a deeper wedge in spending between employed individuals and those without jobs. Unemployment duration is increasing, with the share of long- term unemployed reaching a more-than-decade high in August.”

This disparity also shows up in size of business, Pearce highlights. For example, ADP data shows that in addition to having lower-paid employees, smaller firms have also shredded more jobs in recent months. Indeed their headcount is, across a rolling three-month average, smaller now than it was in 2018 while larger firms (those with 500 or more employees) have added some 100 employees.

“The consumer outlook is primarily splitting by income, which also manifests in generational impacts,” Pearce adds. “The young tend to be poorer and have accumulated much less wealth. Notably, younger consumers face significant pressure on discretionary spending and will be at the forefront of the latest hit as well.”

Indeed, the reason higher earners feel the economy is going better is because they themselves are driving it. Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi wrote in a note earlier this month that without wealthy spenders continuing to splash their cash, the U.S. would be in a recession. “The data show that the U.S. economy is being largely powered by the well-to-do,” Zandi noted. “As long as they keep spending, the economy should avoid recession, but if they turn more cautious, for whatever reason, the economy has a big problem.”

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相关标签

经济分化 收入差距 劳动力市场 通货膨胀 消费 Economic Bifurcation Income Inequality Labor Market Inflation Consumer Spending
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