by John Hugh DeMastri
Just over 47% of Americans earning more than $100,000 were living paycheck to paycheck as of November, spiking 4% from October, according to a survey by financial services firm LendingClub.
Overall, nearly 63% of Americans lived paycheck to paycheck in November, jumping from just over 60% in October, approaching the yearly high of nearly 64.5% set in March, according to LendingClub. Nearly 66% of those who earned between $50,000 and $100,000 were living paycheck-to-paycheck last month, compared to 76% of those who earned less than $50,000.
“As average savings have stagnated, if not decreased, for many consumers, setting financial goals for the new year is increasingly challenging,” the LendingClub report reads. “This is especially true for paycheck-to-paycheck consumers, with those with issues paying their monthly bills having the most difficulty setting both long-term and short-term objectives.”
If one month of a lower than expected #CPI is good news, why is the dollar tanking and #gold up $30? The reason is that a lower CPI gives the #Fed an excuse to ease up on its #inflation fight. That means even higher future inflation, which is bad for the dollar and good for gold.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 13, 2022
Roughly 57% of those living paycheck-to-paycheck reported issues saving for long-term financial goals due to inflation, LendingClub reported. Nearly 42% of those earning more than $200,000 reported inflation affecting their ability to hit long term savings goals, compared to just over 55% of those earning less than $50,000.
While inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, has come in below expectations for the past two months, it remains incredibly high at 7.1%, with core prices seeing inflation at 6.0% once volatility in food and energy costs is accounted for. The Federal Reserve slowed its pace of interest rate hikes in December, from the six months of record-breaking aggression that began in June, the 50 basis point hike was still incredibly large compared to the Fed’s historical behavior and economists are divided about whether the Fed has already done enough to bring inflation under control.
LendingClub surveyed 3,895 consumers, but did not report a margin of error. LendingClub did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment.
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John Hugh DeMastri is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
