There Goes The US Consumer: Card Data Reveal First Drop In Household Spending In Two Years As Upper-Income Wages Tumble, Unemployment Benefits Soar

One of the bigger mysteries of the US economy is how is it possible that - if one believes the various government data collection agencies - the US consumer remains this strong this late into the business cycle (actually, one look at the recent near-record surge in credit card debt explains everything...

.... but for the sake of argument, let's pretend we are confused).