Is merit spending becoming more and more scarce lately?

I couldn't surely be the only one noticing this. Most of the times, I find posts worth meriting, but I can't, because in most cases I have zeros Merits, something that was rare to me in the past. I know about reporting them to some threads, but it gets tiring if I can't even have 1 sMerit every other time I see a post.

Not that I am a perfect merit earner or poster. I am just an average member and from this perspective, to me, it seems there has either been;
A. Depletion of spendable merits among members like me due to low merit circulation
B. A drop in the number of active merit sources.
c. A drop in forum activity

Could folks please help us with the stats? @LoyceV, @DdmrDdmr

Theymos could you please look into this? I don't remember the last time you approved new merit sources.