The percentage of U.S. adults reporting that they were worse off financially climbed to 35 percent in 2022, the highest level since the Federal Reserve started tracking this statistic in 2014.
Fed data highlight that rampant price inflation affected households the most and made a dent in their overall economic health from the previous year, despite a strong labor market.
Seventy-three percent of adults said they were “doing at least okay financially in 2022,” down by 5 percent from the previous year. Thirty-five percent of adults admitted to being worse off financially, the highest figure since the series began nearly a decade ago.
More adults endured spending increases than income gains, as 40 percent told the central bank that their family’s monthly expenses rose from the previous year, compared with 33 percent who reported a monthly income boost. Twenty-three percent of adults reported that their spending jumped but their income was flat.
Inflation altered consumers’ spending and saving choices, with most saying they stopped consuming a product or used less because of price pressures. More than half (51 percent) trimmed their savings amid the inflationary climate.
The share of respondents who confirmed that they would cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent was 63 percent, down by 5 percentage points.
The 2022 economic environment also affected retirement goals, with 31 percent of nonretirees thinking their retirement savings plan was on track, down from 40 percent in 2021.
“Building retirement savings can have implications for financial well-being later in life,” the Fed researchers said in the report. “Seventy-nine percent of retirees said they were doing at least okay financially. However, retirees who received income from sources such as wages, pensions, or investments were much more likely to be doing at least okay financially than those who had no private income.”
SHED figures show that nearly two-thirds of renters couldn’t afford a down payment, affecting their ability to purchase a residential property.
“Some renters indicated they had difficulty keeping up with their rent payments,” the Fed reported. “Seventeen percent of renters were behind on their rent at some point in the prior year.”
On the labor front, the numbers revealed a robust employment arena. One-third of adults received a raise or a promotion, and 70 percent who asked for a raise were given one.
Will 2023 Be Better?
Although the annual inflation rate has slowed to below 5 percent in April, many reports suggest that Americans continue to be pessimistic about current economic conditions.“Even as inflation has been cooling, the effect of continued high prices has broadened the financial pain Americans are feeling,” the polling firm stated.
Economists say the PCE is more accurate than the consumer price index because the former is broader and includes expenditures by urban and rural consumers, employers, and nonprofit organizations. The PCE is also regularly adjusted to reflect current purchases and substitutions.
But although Fed Chair Jerome Powell blamed negative supply shocks (energy and nonenergy commodities and labor) for inflation during the May 19 Perspectives on Monetary Policy panel discussion at the Thomas Laubach Research Conference, some U.S. lawmakers say the central bank played an integral role in lifting inflation to its highest level in 40 years.
“The kind of the monetary policies put forward by the Fed is one of the key drivers of inflation that we’re seeing,” Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.) told The Epoch Times.