Dollars & Sense: What can pawn shops tell us about the economy?
FirstCash and EZCORP, the two largest publicly traded pawn shop companies, reported growing pawn-loan balances and rising revenue, indicating strong demand for short-term loans. FirstCash's U.S. pawn loan balance increased 14% year-over-year to $831 million, while EZCORP's climbed 33% to $387 million. Both companies also saw an increase in the average loan size, driven by higher-value items like jewelry.



