"Consumers are being increasingly cautious with their spending. If Congress is unable to extend fiscal aid to households in the coming weeks, the economy will be particularly susceptible to a cutback in consumer spending, especially from the lowest-income families."

Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York, in an interview with Reuters earlier this week for its report, “Fading fiscal stimulus restraining U.S. consumer spending” after the Commerce Department reported that U.S. consumer spending had slowed in August.