Skip to Content
IRS Whistleblowers, click here to contact the Ways & Means Committee about waste, fraud, and abuse.

Families and Small Businesses Still Seeing Red on Black Friday 2022

Meager turnout at start of holiday shopping season shows how inflation is hamstringing consumers
November 28, 2022 — 'Inflation Reduction Act'    — Bidenflation    — Blog    — Press Releases    — Select Revenue Measures   

As Biden-Flation continues to hammer families – particularly low- and middle-income earners – this year’s Black Friday turnout was a bellwether for President Biden’s bleak economy.

As Reuters reports:

“Americans, especially from low-income households, are expected to pull back this year as inflation and higher energy prices pinch spending power. […]Many shoppers who opened their wallets said their purchases were strategic, not impulsive or splurges.”

READ: Families Boxed In With Worry This Holiday Season

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Families are cutting back on purchases this holiday season as inflation continues to wreck budgets.

  • “‘It’s a lot of social shopping, everybody is only looking to get what they need. There is no sense of urgency,’” – Marshal Cohen, chief industry adviser of the NPD Group Inc.
  • A recent survey found that nearly a third of American shoppers have said they’ll purchase fewer gifts, while seven percent have said they’ll forgo shopping for gifts altogether.

  • Another study revealed that nearly 90 percent of American families making less than $50,000 a year are having to make changes to their holiday travel due to rising prices. 

READ: Americans’ Holiday Travel Plans Fall Victim to Biden-Flation

READ: A Thanksgiving Dinner Cheatsheet for the Biden Economy

In order to stay warm this winter, American families will pay enormous energy bills in Biden’s cruel economy. 

  • Families are worried about how they’ll heat their home, as energy bills skyrocket to the highest prices in 25 years.

  • Families who heat their home with natural gas will pay $1,094, up more than 20 percent from last year, while families who heat their home with oil (typically in the Northeast region) will suffer even more, with an average bill of $2,354.

  • This comes as households have taken on $351 billion in debt – the largest increase since 2007.

READ: Report: Northeast Region is Rationing Oil Ahead of Winter Heating Crisis

Small businesses have struggled through President Biden’s cruel economy with inflation, a worker shortage, and now more tax hikes and a recession.

  • At least 30 percent of business owners reported inflation as the single biggest challenge in operating their business.

  • More than half of top job creators have warned that inflation has yet to reach its peak.

  • At least 91 percent of top job creators are bracing for a Biden Recession, prompting more than half to consider layoffs in the next six months, according to a recent study. 

READ: Prices Outpace Wages Under Biden-Flation, Creating Hidden Tax