October 23, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Pay off debt, spend, or save? The 2008 Economic Stimulus Payments

Percentage distribution of use of 2008 Economic Stimulus Payments (tax rebates), by composition of consumer unit, June 2008�March 2009
Rebate was used mostly for	Consumer unit
Rebate was used mostly for	All consumer units	Husband and wife, at least one qualifying child	Single parent, at least one qualifying child	Husband and wife only	Single person, 18 years or older	All other consumer units
Spending	30.2	28.7	26.9	31.9	31.9	29.0
Saving	17.6	15.0	6.1	23.3	21.4	13.0
Paying off debt	49.1	53.8	65.2	41.7	43.6	54.4
No information reported	3.0	2.5	1.8	3.1	3.2	3.6

OF INTEREST

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