Visa's report shows that spending in 2017 as a whole fell for the first time in 5 years

Consumer spending fell by 0.3 percent last year (after taking into account the effect of higher inflation)

  • "This result has bucked the trend of the previous four years which saw annual consumer spending rise by an average of 1.7 percent," Visa's chief commercial officer, Mark Antipof, said.

Spending in December -1.0 percent lower than in December 2016

  • Also for the first fall in five years

via Reuters