Gen Z Spending Gets Supercharged by US Inflation and Wage Growth

Most people enter adulthood feeling broke and spending frugally. Not Gen Z.

Spending by the youngest group of US adults has been turbocharged by two once-in-a-generation drivers over the past year: decades-high inflation and a tight job market that has propelled strong wage growth, especially at entry levels. A boost in savings from forced inactivity at the height of the pandemic also helped.

Whether it’s out of necessity in the face of soaring prices or because they can afford to splurge on travel and leisure, young adults today tend to be bigger spenders, credit-card data and surveys show.

“Gen Zs ...