Chart 1
The personal savings rate has trended steadily downward since the 1980s.
Year
Quarter
Personal Savings as a Percentage of Disposal Income
1980 1 9.5
1980 2 9.9
1980 3 10.0
1980 4 10.7
1981 1 9.8
1981 2 9.9
1981 3 11.4
1981 4 12.2
1982 1 11.6
1982 2 11.8
1982 3 11.5
1982 4 10.0
1983 1 9.8
1983 2 8.7
1983 3 8.4
1983 4 9.0
1984 1 10.3
1984 2 10.6
1984 3 11.3
1984 4 11.0
1985 1 9.4
1985 2 10.2
1985 3 7.9
1985 4 8.6
1986 1 8.9
1986 2 8.9
1986 3 7.8
1986 4 7.2
1987 1 8.0
1987 2 5.8
1987 3 6.5
1987 4 7.6
1988 1 7.2
1988 2 7.4
1988 3 7.4
1988 4 7.1
1989 1 7.9
1989 2 7.1
1989 3 6.7
1989 4 6.8
1990 1 7.0
1990 2 7.2
1990 3 6.9
1990 4 6.9
1991 1 7.3
1991 2 7.1
1991 3 7.0
1991 4 7.6
1992 1 7.7
1992 2 7.9
1992 3 7.3
1992 4 7.8
1993 1 5.7
1993 2 6.2
1993 3 5.3
1993 4 5.9
1994 1 4.1
1994 2 5.0
1994 3 4.9
1994 4 5.3
1995 1 5.7
1995 2 4.7
1995 3 4.3
1995 4 4.0
1996 1 4.2
1996 2 3.9
1996 3 4.1
1996 4 3.8
1997 1 3.6
1997 2 3.9
1997 3 3.4
1997 4 3.7
1998 1 4.6
1998 2 4.5
1998 3 4.3
1998 4 3.8
1999 1 3.7
1999 2 2.2
1999 3 1.7
1999 4 1.9
2000 1 2.4
2000 2 2.4
2000 3 2.6
2000 4 2.0
2001 1 1.9
2001 2 1.2
2001 3 3.4
2001 4 0.5
2002 1 2.9
2002 2 2.8
2002 3 1.9
2002 4 1.8
2003 1 1.8
2003 2 2.1
2003 3 2.3
2003 4 2.2
2004 1 2.0
2004 2 2.0
2004 3 1.8
2004 4 2.5
2005 1 1.0
2005 2 0.8
2005 3 -0.5
2005 4 0.8
2006 1 0.9
2006 2 0.3
2006 3 0.0
2006 4 0.4
2007 1 1.0
2007 2 0.3
2007 3 0.5
2007 4 0.2

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis (Haver Analytics)