US real disposable income growth has trailed consumer spending for 24 consecutive months, forcing Americans to rely on savings depletion and debt accumulation.
Macro & Markets ·
Real disposable income growth has trailed real consumer spending growth for 24 consecutive months, marking the longest such streak since at least the 1960s and surpassing the previous record of approximately 23 months set in the late 1970s. Americans have maintained spending above their inflation-adjusted income growth for two consecutive years, increasingly relying on savings depletion and debt accumulation to bridge the gap. The personal savings rate declined 1.7 percentage points since January to 2.7%, representing the fourth-lowest level since the 2008 Financial Crisis, while credit card debt rose $21 billion in the second quarter to $1.26 trillion, the second-highest level on record.