Chart: Economy running out of gas?

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation

December spending on services was the worst in nearly a year, retail spending fell 3 of the last 4 months, rising mortgage interest rates drove existing home sales to their lowest level since 2014, and car sales were the worst in more than a decade.

Government stimulus funds and cheap credit lifted the U.S out of the pandemic downturn, but the forces that fueled high spending in late 2020 and throughout 2021 are gone, while the inflation they created remains.

Americans set aside 3.4% of their monthly income for savings in December 2022, down from 7.5% December 2021 and from a record high of 33% in April 2020. The pre-pandemic long term average savings rate was 8.75%.

This would be a good reminder to lawmakers that as they gather in the State Capitol to create a budget, that raising taxes or spending more than what is coming in, would severely damage the fragile economy and taxpayer families.

chart: Wall Street Journal