‼️The wealthiest Americans have never dominated consumer spending to this extent:
The top 10% of US earners now account for a record 49% of all consumer spending, up +13 percentage points over the last 30 years.
By comparison, the bottom 80% of earners account for just 37% of total consumer expenditures, down -11 percentage points since 1995.
In other words, ~28 million Americans are driving nearly half of all consumer spending, while 221 million Americans account for just 37%.
Given that personal consumer expenditures account for 68% of total US economic output, the top 10% now effectively drive a record 33% of US GDP.
At the same time, the bottom 80% account for just 25% of the economy.
The US consumer economy has never been so uneven.