New York Fed to Release Research Series on Consumer Spending Trends and the K-Shaped Economy

NEW YORK-On Friday, May 1 at 10:30 AM ET, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will release a two-part Liberty Street Economics series examining diverging consumer spending trends in the U.S by income levels, and the factors driving this difference.

This will mark the latest blog series based on Economic Heterogeneity Indicators (EHIs), indicators that measure macroeconomic outcomes experienced by different demographic, economic, and geographic groups-both nationally and in the New York Fed's region.

The blog posts to be released are:

• "Tracking the K-Shaped Economy: Who's Driving Spending?" which explores recent retail sales data across income groups, and compares it to trends seen during the pandemic and the periods immediately before and after; and
• "Explaining the K-Shaped Economy: What's Behind the Divide?" which examines the reasons for the recent divergence in consumption by analyzing which goods the trend holds true for and whether it can be explained by changes in wages, inflation, or net wealth.

Press Call on Consumer Spending Trends and the K-Shaped Economy: Authors of the posts will host a deep background press call on Friday, May 1 at 9:30 AM ET to provide further context on the research. Journalists interested in participating should RSVP to Betsy Bourassa at [email protected].