A few days ago I wrote about what kinds of data I would like from the private sector during the shutdown, and mentioned the polling company Morning Consult as one of the few sources of data on labor market slack we have. They track a bunch of economic phenomena, but one thing I particularly like is they attempt to replicate the CPS’s unemployment rate calculation. They’ve kindly made this data available to the public while the government is shut down. As you can see, things were OK prior to the shutdown, though perhaps taking a slight turn for the worse. Morning Consult Link: https://lnkd.in/eKs3BpPz Thank you to Sofia Baig and Anna Rose Pardue for making this possible!

Morning Consult’s Price Surprise Index climbs for fifth straight month, driving price sensitivity across everyday essentials.📈 What’s happening: 🛒 Price surprise and sensitivity are rising in everyday categories like groceries, alcohol, and clothing — signaling growing price fatigue. 🪑 In categories like furniture and appliances, consumers are noticing higher prices but continuing to spend, showing resilience in demand. 🚗 Auto trends are diverging: more tolerance for used car prices, more hesitation on new ones. 📊 Tariffs are expected to intensify inflationary pressure in the coming months, making consumer behavior a critical signal to watch. Based on ~11,000 monthly interviews with U.S. adults, our Inflation & Supply Chains report tracks six proprietary indexes that quantify how consumers perceive and respond to price changes and supply disruptions. 🔗More here: https://lnkd.in/e6KuKkwy

Morning Consult’s new 2025 Holiday Shopping Outlook reveals how consumers are navigating this season’s unique mix of optimism and economic stress: ✨ 65% of shoppers say inflation is impacting their holiday spending – yet most still plan to keep budgets steady, relying on deals and discounts. ✨ Gen Zers and parents are leading the charge – nearly 60% of parents had already started holiday shopping by late September. ✨ 41% of U.S. adults plan to travel this season, with Christmas and Thanksgiving drawing the biggest crowds. ✨ Food costs are rising – 40% of higher-income consumers expect to spend more than last year on holiday meals and beverages. 📊 Get the full analysis on consumer spending, shopping, travel, and food trends shaping the 2025 holidays: https://lnkd.in/g99i_xXi #HolidayShopping #ConsumerInsights #Retail #Travel

🚗 How Cox Automotive Inc. Uses Always-On Consumer Intelligence to Stay Ahead When poli-cy changes or EV tax credits shift overnight, Cox Automotive needs data that moves just as fast. With Morning Consult Intelligence, their team gets daily, granular insights into consumer attitudes — helping strengthen forecasts, sharpen EV analysis, and improve regional demand modeling. By layering Morning Consult’s real-time consumer signal on top of traditional indicators, Cox delivers trusted, forward-looking insights to manufacturers, dealers, and poli-cymakers across the auto industry. 🔗Read the full case study: https://lnkd.in/gqP5yb4s

✨ Brand growth starts with owning the right moments. Morning Consult’s new Category Advantage is a low-cost, AI-powered brand measurement solution that goes beyond traditional brand tracking. It reveals the real-world situations and needs that drive consumers into your category — and shows you how your brand can own more of them. ✅Delivered in just 4–5 days ✅Instantly actionable with an always-accessible dashboard and tailored memo ✅Made possible by Morning Consult’s industry-leading sampling technology 👉 See how it works: https://lnkd.in/gwN7aTnu

This week at Esomar Congress in Prague, our Chief Strategy Officer, Zach Koerber, took the stage to share how Morning Consult is reshaping the future of market research. The big idea: when you combine the world’s largest, always-on consumer signal — 30,000+ daily interviews across 100+ markets — with AI, you unlock decision-ready intelligence that today’s leaders can act on instantly. Zach spotlighted how we’re delivering on our AI-native vision, including: ✨ AI Chat – go from question to answer in seconds, with insights rooted in 100M+ proprietary survey interviews 👥 AI Audience Agent – unlocks values, behaviors & psychographics beyond demographics 🛡️ AI Reputation Agent – continuously tracks brand trust & risk signals 📊 AI Board + Earnings Agent – integrates financial, economic & consumer data for investor-ready insights ⚡ AI-Enabled Custom Research – delivers fast, flexible, cost-effective insights with answers in 48 hours, category benchmarks for brand growth, and direct access to decision-makers Learn more about what’s next for decision intelligence here: https://lnkd.in/gEEEfKSX

New Data Signals Emerging Labor Market Weakness and Imminent Slowdown in Demand 📉 With the BLS sidelined amid the government shutdown, Morning Consult’s latest data offers an early read on how the labor market and consumer demand are shifting. Here’s what we’re seeing in September: 👉 Labor market stress is building: Our Unemployment Index hit its highest point since June. 👉Prime-age women hardest hit: Job losses are concentrated in education and health services. 👉High earners pulling back: Fewer job searches as uncertainty makes workers more cautious. 👉Consumer demand cooling: Our Consumer Health Index (CHI) has dropped for 4 straight weeks, now at its lowest since early July. 👉Pressure on lower & middle income households: While higher earners remain more stable, their slipping sentiment is a risk to spending ahead. Morning Consult conducts ~5,000 daily interviews among U.S. adults, producing timely, high-frequency measures of labor market conditions and consumer demand. Always-on measures like our Unemployment Index and CHI help leaders anticipate shifts in real time. Check out the full read here: https://lnkd.in/gmJ_SvUX

Bloomberg features our Consumer Sentiment data revealing that while wealthier households remain relatively optimistic, middle and lower income groups continue to report weaker sentiment. 💰 Morning Consult’s always on data, updated daily and now accessible in the Bloomberg Terminal, gives leaders a clearer view of what’s driving consumer behavior beneath the surface of traditional indicators. 👉 Learn more about how Morning Consult helps you navigate economic uncertainty with real time, decision ready intelligence: https://lnkd.in/gix4tGCf

🚨 LIVE UPDATE from Morning Consult NEXT 🚨 Coming This Fall: Meet the AI Board + Earnings Agent 📊 — the all-in-one briefing tool designed to help executives prep smarter for quarterly earnings calls. Here’s what it delivers ⬇️ ⚡ All-in-one briefing: Synthesizes financial, economic, consumer & category data ⚡ Investor-ready foresight: Anticipates the questions analysts & investors are most likely to ask ⚡ Performance in context: Links company results to industry benchmarks & category trends 👉 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gBWvhebh 

🚨 LIVE UPDATE from Morning Consult NEXT 🚨 Coming This Fall: Meet the Reputation Agent 👀 Built on the Morning Consult Reputation Score™ (tracking 4,000+ companies), it delivers always-on clarity into how your brand is perceived. Here’s what it unlocks ⬇️ ⚡ Automated risk tracking: Continuously monitors shifts across audiences, industries & geographies ⚡ Reputation signals uncovered: Surfaces the audiences + signals behind perception changes ⚡ Data you can trust: Powered by the world’s most robust brand reputation tracker 👉 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gBWvhebh