Personal Outlays Gain Even as Personal Saving Rate Ticks Slightly Higher
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported personal income rose $101.7 billion (0.5%) in November, exceeding the forecast range. The gain was primarily driven by better compensation for employees, as well as farm proprietors’ income, and personal interest income.
Forecasts ranged from a low of 0.2% to a high of 0.4%. The consensus forecast was 0.3%.
Disposable personal income (DPI) rose $87.7 billion (0.5%) and consumer spending continued to come in stronger than expected. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) gained $64.9 billion (0.4%).
Forecasts ranged from a low of 0.2% to a high of 0.5%. The consensus forecast for spending was 0.4%.
Real DPI and real PCE rose 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. The PCE price index increased 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.1%.
The $37.8 billion increase in real PCE reflected an increase of $22.6 billion in spending for goods and a $17.1 billion increase in spending for services.
Personal outlays increased overall by $68.6 billion in November.
Personal saving was $1.31 trillion in November and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—rose slightly to 7.9%.
