A few weeks ago, USA Today had a story showing that one of every six dollars of Americans’ income is now coming in the form of a federal or state check or voucher — a historic high. Using personal income data for May, economist Don Marron shows that the trend continues:

Friday’s data on personal income for May confirmed that the trend is continuing. Government transfers made up a record 18% of personal income in May

He also notes:

May’s increase was driven entirely by the recent stimulus act. The act provided for one-time payments of $250 to a range of Americans who are beneficiaries of various other programs, including Social Security, SSI, and veterans’ benefits. Those payments more than account for the increase in transfers from 16.9% of personal income in April to 18.0% in May.

Marron’s well-worth-reading post is here.