by Jeffrey P. Snider
Alhambra Partners
The Personal Savings Rate is a rather important economic indication. Because it is derived from the difference between income and spending, it can tell us a great deal about the state of the economy from the consumer perspective. Unfortunately, nobody can say with any degree of confidence what the savings rate is right now, or even what it has been over the past few years.
Back in March, it was thought that the savings rate for November 2015, a rather important month situated between (so far) both bouts of “global turmoil”, was 4.9% and down slightly from 5.1% in October. The rate was fairly steady throughout 2015, only achieving an upward bend in December last year on into 2016.