Disposable income surged a record 23.6% in March as another round of relief checks poured into Americans& #39; bank accounts. Consumer spending rose a more modest 4.2%.
https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/personal-income-and-outlays-march-2021">https://www.bea.gov/news/2021...
https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/personal-income-and-outlays-march-2021">https://www.bea.gov/news/2021...
Total consumer spending (not adjusted for inflation) is now above its prepandemic level. Income, meanwhile, is an insane 30% above where it was in February 2020.
No mystery as to what& #39;s driving the gains in income: government aid. Compensation of employees rose just 1%.
The result of the huge surge in income is an enormous pile of savings -- $6 trillion in March. As always, though, a crucial caveat: Those savings are not evenly distributed. Plenty of people who were wiped out by the pandemic.