BEP: December 2008

BEP, bill production for December 2008:

$1 = 134.4 M
$5 = 32.0 M
$10 = 64.0 M
$20 = 51.2 M
$50 = 48.0 M
$100 = 183.68 M
AVERAGE VALUE per BILL = $44.28

Fewest $1 bills since my records begin in October 2002.

Fewest $5 bills since September 2007.

First batch of $50 bills printed since March 2007.

Most $100 bills printed since March 2003.

Very high average value per bill since $50s and $100s are up and $1s and $5s are down. The demand for small bills has diminished while the value for larger bills has increased. Are people parking their credit cards and using cash for purhases more often these days, drawing more large bills out of their bank accounts? I'd say no. If the large bills were in demand for spending, then we'd also see a rise in small bills needed for making change. That's not the case, so these big bills aren't being spent. The opposite could be happening... people are holding on to big bills, socking them away somewhere. And if they're not spending cash, they don't need cash in change, which explains the fall in small bill demand.