According to a government report released on Tuesday, the after-tax savings rate for American consumers in June was 6.4% — well above the one-to-two percent rate that had been the norm for many years before the recession. The savings rate reached a peak of 8.2% in May of last year, so the rate of consumer deleveraging has moderated. Still, many economists are concerned that this deleveraging, along with high unemployment and still-high debt levels, continues to discourage consumer spending. The New York Times Aug. 4, 2010
