(Travis Dove/Bloomberg)News that the economy did all right in 2017 landed with a benign thud today, but behind that thud lurks a red flag. For the duration of this economic expansion, consumer spending has been the dynamo driving growth in gross domestic product, or GDP. This surfaces most starkly in the personal saving rate, which is the biggest red flag in today’s otherwise benign report. Personal saving rate is what the Commerce Department calls the difference between Americans’ income and their spending on goods, services and taxes, measured as a share of disposable income. Swonk said insurance payments in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, as well as the California fires, are also weighing on the saving rate.

Source: Washington Post January 26, 2018 20:26 UTC