Widening K-shaped economy pattern across income groups

Core Insights - The U.S. economy is exhibiting a "K-shaped" recovery, with spending growth diverging significantly between lower-income and higher-income consumers [1][2] Spending Trends - Higher-income households (top third by income) are experiencing a year-over-year spending growth of approximately 2.6%, while lower-income households are only seeing a growth of 0.6%, indicating a substantial gap [2] - The report highlights that lower-income households had the weakest holiday spending growth leading up to Cyber Monday, despite relatively healthy spending growth compared to previous periods [13] Wage Growth Disparities - Wage growth for higher-income households is around 4%, whereas lower-income households are seeing only about 1.4% growth, marking one of the largest gaps in the last decade [5] - The labor market trends are identified as a key driver of the K-shaped dynamics, with after-tax wage growth for lower-income households lagging behind that of higher-income households [9] Consumer Behavior - Consumers are showing price sensitivity during the holiday season, with spending growth driven by an increase in the number of transactions rather than a significant rise in average spending per transaction [14][15] - Online holiday purchases have seen a transaction increase of about 10%, with total spending up roughly 9%, indicating effective consumer strategies to manage price rises [15][16]