Apr 26, 2024 - Economy
Charted: Spending more, saving less
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Americans saved a smaller share of their income in March than in any other month since 2022.
- The personal saving rate, the percentage of income people are putting away after spending for things and accounting for taxes, dropped to 3.2% in March, according to government data.
Zoom in: That's down from 3.6% in February, and the 4.3% averaged over the prior 15 months from November 2022 to January 2024.
- And March's dip is in spite of a 0.5% uptick in personal income.
- In dollar terms, personal saving was $671 billion in March, compared to $739 billion in February.
Between the lines: Driving the drop were higher outlays for interest payments, and increased spending on health care services, housing and utilities, recreational items and food and beverages.
The big picture: People are still spending, even if that means saving less. For the second straight month, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.8% in March, the strongest in more than a year, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.
