Exploring U.S. Apparel Demand with the Lifestyle Monitor

The United States is generally thought to be in the early stages of recovery following the worst economic recession since World War II.  In the face of rising unemployment and severe losses of wealth, consumers have cut back on their spending and increased their savings rates.  Clothing and textile categories are among the areas where consumers’ cutbacks in spending have been the most severe.  The objective of this paper is to examine various data sources, at both the macro and micro level, and attempt to establish a framework that could be used to monitor consumer demand for cotton in the United States.