Bank of America Corp. on Monday said Americans used a bigger chunk of their credit card spending for gasoline in May. Spending on gasoline increased to 7.8% of total credit card charges for the week ended May 28, up from 6.4% in February. Lower-income consumers that make less than $50,000 a year saw their average share of gasoline spending increase to 9.5%. All credit card and debit card spending increased 9% in May over the year-ago period, including a boost of 16% in credit card spending. Bank of America senior economist David Tinsley said the bank remains “cautiously optimistic” for the U.S. consumer. Despite the impact of inflation, “spending on services like travel and entertainment remained strong and households continued to have higher savings than they did before the pandemic,” Tinsley said. Shares of Bank of America are up 2.3% on Monday amid gains by the broad market. Bank of America stock is down 16.9% this year, compared to a loss of 12.7% by the S&P 500 .
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