Personal income increased $68.1 billion, or 0.4 percent, in October, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, up from a 0.2 percent increase in September. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $15.2 billion, or 0.1 percent, consistent with the previous month.
Disposable personal income – personal income less taxes – increased 0.4 percent, up from 0.3 percent in Septmeber.
The personal savings rate – personal savings as a percentage of disposable income – was 5.6 percent, up from 4.3 percent last month.
Wages and salaries increased $45.0 billion, after increasing just $2.5 billion in September. October’s increase was primarily driven by a $36.8 billion wage increase in service-producing industries.
The price index for PCE decreased 0.1 percent, after decreasing 0.1 percent in September. The index excluding food and energy increased less than 0.1 percent from September and 1.3 percent from a year ago, still below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2.0 percent.
Read the BEA release.
