Pawn shop owners across the US say they’ve seen an increase in demand for loans in the past month or so, a sign of just how punishing higher gas prices are for some Americans.

“We’re making a lot more loans,” said Tim Cassidy, the fourth generation in his family to run Cassidy’s Jewelry & Loan in Stockton, California. “They have to have that gas, they have to get to work.”

[…]

Pawn shops can offer timely signals about consumer strain that may not be clear in official statistics, which often mask the experiences of different socioeconomic groups and are typically released with a lag.

Emphasis mine.