Bank of America customers buy less premium pet food as card spending rises 5%

Bank of America customers are buying less premium pet food even as overall card spending rose, CEO Brian Moynihan said in an interview with NBC News. The shift is occurring despite advertising by premium brands and reflects efforts to offset higher gas prices, he said. Monthly spending on the bank’s credit and debit cards increased 5% in May from a year earlier.

U.S. launched a war against Iran, and inflation outpaced wage growth for the second consecutive month. Moynihan said the data also showed continued spending on vacations and dining out.

“Consumers are still spending on vacations and things like that, which is good for America. They still go out to eat, which is also good,” he said. The bank tracks purchases across almost 70 million customers.

Moynihan said the bank watches what customers do rather than what they say in surveys. Moynihan described a disconnect between consumer sentiment and behavior.

Americans in surveys and interviews overwhelmingly say they are pessimistic about their own finances and the economy overall, yet spending continues, he said. Moynihan grew up in a family with eight children. His father was middle class and sent all eight children to college, sometimes borrowing to cover gaps between earnings and tuition costs.

Bank of America recently hired 2,000 recent college graduates and 2,000 summer interns. The bank pledged to hire 10,000 veterans and 8,000 community college recruits over the next five years. The bank has a headcount of roughly 210,000 and needs to hire 1,300 to 1,500 people each month to replace those who leave or retire.

Last year it raised its minimum wage to $25 an hour, bringing the annual starting salary to more than $50,000. Moynihan said corporate leaders have a responsibility to keep hiring and training workers even as artificial intelligence changes job requirements.