WASHINGTON — CUNA's chief economist received national mainstream media exposure Oct. 6 with a USA Today story unrelated to the bank/credit union battles.

Bill Hampel turned up as a source for a story on the historically low savings rate in America. The article was based on CUNA's data showing a weak 1.8% year-to-date rise in savings compared to 2.3% at the same point last year, which had been the slowest recorded at that point. USA Today reported that these figures were in line with other savings figures like that of the Commerce Department showing a negative savings rate since late spring 2005. Hampel said the decline in savings was due to the booming housing market over the last several years, which made people feel wealthier without actually socking money away. He is quoted as saying, "Now that manna from heaven (housing) is evaporating … it will induce households to save. We're at the bottom of the weak saving behavior, and in the next few months, the household sector will begin saving again."

The article also pointed out that credit union CD rates are on the rise and that credit union savings and checking accounts, CDs, money market and other accounts comprise about 12% of savings at depository institutions.