Researchers at a big U.S. bank called the Federal Reserve looked at how much money Americans are spending at stores. They tracked 200,000 shoppers over two years.
They found something interesting: people who went to college are spending more money than people who didn't go to college. The gap between the two groups is getting bigger over time. College graduates increased their spending about 6% since 2023, while families without college degrees only increased about 4%.
Money experts are calling this a "K-shaped economy" — imagine the letter K, where one line goes up and the other goes down. But the study only tracked shopping at stores. It didn't look at how much people spend on housing, doctor visits, or school. So the full picture might be different from what this data shows.