Personal Income Gains Offset By Department of Agriculture Subsidy for Farmers
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported personal income rose $40.7 billion (0.2 percent) in December, just below the consensus forecast. The gain was primarily driven by wages and salaries, but offset by farm proprietors’ income.
Forecasts ranged from a low of 0.1% to a high of 0.4%. The consensus forecast was 0.3%. Person income rose by a revised 0.4% in November.
Farm proprietors’ income fell $36.2 billion in December, largely the result of a decrease in subsidy payments from the Department of Agriculture’s Market Facilitation Program. That partially offset gains in employee compensation and personal interest income.
Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose $6.8 billion. That reflects a gain of $2.5 billion in spending on goods and a $4.4 billion increase in spending on services.
Personal Outlays and Personal Saving
Personal outlays rose $51.5 billion in December.
Personal saving was $1.28 trillion in December and the personal saving rate, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, was 7.6 percent (table 1).
