Personal income increased $52.5 billion, or 0.3 percent, in August, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, down from a 0.5 percent increase in July. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $54.9 billion, or 0.4 percent, the same pace as in July.
Disposable personal income – personal income less taxes – increased 0.4 percent after gaining 0.5 percent in July.
The personal savings rate – personal savings as a percentage of disposable income – was 4.6 percent, down from 4.7 percent last month.
Wages and salaries grew $35.6 billion in August, down from a $43.8 billion increase in July. The majority of wage and salary growth for the month was attributable to expansion in the service sector.
The price index for PCE increased less than 0.1 percent in August, compared to a 0.1 percent July increase. The index excluding food and energy increased 1.3 percent from a year ago, well below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2.0 percent.
Read the BEA release.