The chart of the week looks at excess savings by U.S. households since the pandemic started in early 2020. Savings grew very quickly throughout 2020 and 2021 due to lack of spending and therefore the ability to save. While total savings has come down, the Fed estimates that consumers still have over $1.7 trillion in excess savings. While savings is largest for the top 50% of households according to income level, the bottom 50% still have about $350 million in excess savings, or around $5,500 extra per household on average. Strong consumer balance sheets have helped keep consumer spending strong which will hopefully keep earnings high as we move into the end of 2022.