It measures only the amount of money being put aside each month for savings. Surely there must have been more to this article and my local paper omitted the subsequent paragraphs. But, it's enough to show the tendency today to shrug off the low savings rate as unimportant.
Savings occurs when people's wants are satisfied and they postpone consuming additional goods.
The savers thereby insure themselves a more abundant supply of goods in the future. These surpluses are accumulations of capital and improve future economic conditions. The saver foregoes immediate satisfaction in order to improve his or her well being in the future. In classical economics the source of new credit should be current savings. The amount of credit should equal the amount of current savings and no more.