On the left, the bar chart shows how household wealth growth accelerated in selected economies since the COVID-19 pandemic due to government fiscal support and a significant cut-back in spending, especially on discretionary items. This metric reflects a healthy household balance sheets and could point to more consumer spending as the economy continues to recover.

On the right, the relationship between corporate credit spread and U.S. capital spending is also strong. A tightening of corporate credit spreads (grey line) usually implies companies can borrow at lower interest rates and funding is more readily available. This would, in time, allow for companies to go ahead and invest in the business, as shown by non-residential fixed investment (purple line).