US Personal Income and Outlays for December

On Friday, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that according to its estimates, personal income (PI) increased $92.0 billion, or 0.4%, at a monthly rate in December; disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $79.7 billion, or 0.4%; and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $133.6 billion, or 0.7%.

The increase in current-dollar personal income in December primarily reflected an increase in compensation. The $133.6 billion increase in current-dollar PCE reflected an increase of $78.2 billion in spending for services and $55.4 billion in spending for goods.

Month-over-month, the PCE price index for December increased 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.2%.

Year-over-year, the PCE price index for December increased 2.6%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.8%.

Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $129.5 billion in December. Personal saving was $843.2 billion, and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.8%.