By Tony Owusu | Sacramento Bee
Inflation has taken its toll on Americans in recent years, but even as inflation has dropped from over 9% in July 2022 to 3.7% in August 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, people are still struggling with their finances.
Despite consumer goods becoming more affordable, 60% of workers in the U.S. live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a new report from Pymnts and LendingClub, with 19% struggling to pay monthly bills.
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And it’s not just people on the lower end of the income spectrum who are finding it hard to balance their budgets.
As many as 45% of high-income earners ($100,000 or more) surveyed in the report are also living paycheck-to-paycheck, while 62% of those earning in the $50,000 to $100,000 range were in the same situation. The paycheck-to-paycheck rate for those earning less than $50,000 annually was 76%, meaning only a quarter of lower-income people are financially stable.
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