Americans have shockingly higher incomes than pre-COVID — what April meant for our wallets

Like Benjamins in the freezer... Despite 41M jobs lost in the past 10 weeks and a stunning 15% unemployment rate, Americans' household saving and personal income posted record increases in April. It's confusing, but it also makes sense. Check out these April stats:

• Consumer spending plunged 13.6%, the biggest monthly decline on record. Not surprising given nationwide lockdowns. Americans mainly spent on essentials given the economic uncertainty. Buut...
• Personal income jumped 10.5%, thanks to $1.2K government stimulus checks and $600/week extra in unemployment benefits. According to a new study, 68% of unemployed workers who can receive benefits are eligible for payments larger than their original salaries.
• Wages and salaries fell 8% but that was more than offset by unemployment/stimulus checks. People made more money this April than last April, on average.
• The personal-saving rate soared to 33% in April, meaning Americans saved 33% of their disposable income — an all-time high. That's a dramatic increase from 12.7% in March and is quadruple February's rate of 8.2%.

Americans are historically terrible savers... The United States is a more consumerist and debt-loving country with inequality that has many living on the financial edge.

• 78% of US workers were living paycheck to paycheck in January 2019 — around 40% of US households wouldn't be able to come up with $400 for an emergency expense.
• Now that jobs and economic stability are far from a sure thing, Americans are turning to saving as a survival instinct in a time of crisis.