To many experts, the U.S. economy is looking increasingly "K-shaped," with bifurcation between growth and wealth in the upper echelons as lower-income households continue on a downward path that could spell trouble for the country's overall stability.

"This is not a new thing. Financial markets like to invent these labels," said Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan, Schreiber Family Professor of Economics at Brown University, who told Newsweek that the term was entering the vernacular given the now "obvious" divide between America’s economic ranks.

"We see strong investment and consumption growth driven by the stock market , driven by AI investment and all that," she said. "But at the same time, we see labor market weakening. We see poor households living month to month on their pay cheques."

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