Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Withheld taxes indicate personal income is taking a turn for the worse


The amount of withheld taxes received by the Department of the Treasury for a 12 month period ending October 31, 2008 was 0.65% higher than a year ago after being adjusted for inflation. This is down from September's rate of 1.43%. This is significantly lower than the rate in 2006 and 2007 where 12 month's withheld taxes grew on average by 4.5% a year.

Withheld taxes gives us a day to day glimpse of how personal income is faring well in advance of the official numbers.  So far, withheld taxes in this current downturn is resembling the slowdown during the 2001 recession. Withheld taxes is still currently growing. If the downturn continues, there could be a long ways to go before reaching the bottom. Especially if this turns out to be a stronger recession than the one in 2001.


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