Personal Income, Disposable Income, and Personal Consumption Expenditures All Increase in September

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported on Friday (10-27-23) that according to its estimates, personal income (PI) increased $77.8 billion, or 0.3% month-over-month, in September. Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $56.1 billion, or 0.3%. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $138.7 billion, or 0.7%.

The PCE price index increased 0.4% in September. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3%. Real DPI decreased 0.1% and real PCE increased 0.4%; goods increased 0.5% and services increased 0.3%.

Year-over-year, the PCE price index for September increased 3.4%. Prices for goods increased 0.9%, while prices for services increased 4.7%. Food prices increased 2.7%, while energy prices declined by less than 0.1%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 3.7% from one year ago.

Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $175.1 billion in September. Personal saving was $687.7 billion, and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.4%.