A new household budget index from Primerica showed that spending power among middle-income households in the U.S. increased to 97.5% in July; a 0.5% rise from the previous month. This suggests that those households generating between $30,000 and $130,000 a year are coping better financially after inflation was at its highest in decades.
“We’re seeing some climbing out of the deepest of the difficulties after the pandemic,” Primerica CEO Glenn Williams observed. “We’ve seen inflation slowed down, and we’ve seen earned incomes begin to increase. Both are positives compared to the way things were previously.”
Still, the financial services company’s CEO warned that things are not necessarily all good despite this positive development. U.S. credit card debt has surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, suggesting that although spending power may be on the rise, many American households are struggling to pay off their mounting existing debts.