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Finance & economics | A firm mattress
America’s savings rate has plunged
But don’t panic
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Photograph: Reuters
Jun 21st 2026|3 min read
The latest fashionable worry about America’s economy is that consumers are spending beyond their means. Personal consumption—its engine, accounting for two-thirds of gdp—has grown by a respectable 2% or so over the past year. But America’s personal-saving rate fell to 2.6% in April. It has been lower only once since early 2008, when Bear Stearns, a bank, became one of the first casualties of the global financial crisis. Surely, the argument goes, it is only a matter of time before consumption cracks.
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