US savings rate soars to 14-year high

It looks like American consumers are salting it away. The U.S. personal savings rate surged to a 14-year high 5.7 percent in April, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday, as consumers took advantage of tax cuts to increase savings and build safety cushions in the middle of the worst U.S. recession in more than 25 years.

The record, nearly $800 billion fiscal stimulus package was designed to increase spending, but so far Americans have used most of their increases in real disposable income, including a 1.1 percent increase in April, to increase savings. The personal savings rate totaled 4.5 percent in March.

Real consumer spending fell 0.1 percent, its second consecutive decline and eighth decline in the past 11 months.