BofA CEO: Consumers spending at fastest pace he's seen

The head of the nation’s second-largest bank said consumers are spending “at a faster rate” than he’s ever seen but he remains concerned about how inflation and supply-chain issues will influence the economy going into the winter

NEW YORK -- The head of the nation’s second-largest bank said consumers are spending “at a faster rate” than he’s ever seen but he remains concerned about how inflation and supply-chain issues will influence the economy going into the winter.

In an interview this month with The Associated Press, Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan said spending on the bank's debit and credit cards has surged as the economy recovered from recession.

But Moynihan also said a recent decline in consumer sentiment — by one measure to the lowest point in a decade — may indicate higher costs are adding to Americans’ frustration with the ongoing pandemic.

“(The consumer) is earning more money, but now they are worried that these costs are going to go up faster than their wages,” he said. “Also, frankly, the constant ebb and flow of this virus weighs on people’s minds over time.”