Personal income, disposal income, expenses rise; saving down in September

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 293 views 

Personal income rose 2.2% to $16.532 trillion in September, from the same month in 2016, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. From August, personal income increased 0.4% or by $66.9 billion.

Disposable personal income was up 1.2% to $14.465 trillion in September, from the same month in 2016. From August, disposable personal income increased 0.4% or by $53 billion. Personal consumption expenditures rose 2.7% to $13.531 trillion in September, from the same month in 2016. From August, personal consumption expenditures rose 1% or by $136 billion.

The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 1.6% in September, from the same month in 2016. The index, excluding food and energy, rose 1.3% from the same month in 2016.

The increase in personal income between August and September reflected a rise in wages and salaries and nonfarm proprietors’ income. From August, wages and salaries rose 0.4% to $8.435 trillion, and nonfarm proprietors’ income rose 0.6% to $1.356 trillion. From September 2016, wages and salaries increased 1.7%, while nonfarm proprietors’ income fell 3.1%.

“The $76 billion increase in real PCE in September reflected an increase of $59.1 billion in spending for goods and a $21.6 billion increase in spending for service,” according to the BEA. “Within goods, new motor vehicles was the leading contributor to the increase. Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was spending for household utilities.” Between August and September, spending on new motor vehicles and parts increased 9.9% to $486.948 billion, and spending on housing and utilities rose 0.4% to $2.050 trillion.

Between August and September, personal outlays rose $132.5 billion, personal saving fell 15.2% to $441.9 billion, and the personal saving rate, which represents personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, declined to 3.1%, from 3.6%. In September 2016, personal saving was $814.4 billion, with a personal saving rate of 5.7%.