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Personal Income Grew 0 6 in November

Personal income growth outpaced consumption growth in November, rising 0.6% and leading the savings rate to tick up slightly. Novembers growth was the fastest rate since February. Hurricane Sandy played a role in Novembers strength, as it depressed growth in October, leading to a rebound in November.



The improvement in personal income was welcome, as growth has averaged just 0.2% over the past 7 months. Real personal income preformed better than nominal rising 0.8% due to a falling PCE index. Wage income rose 0.6% in November as well, recovering from a 0.3% drop the previous month.

Consumption recovered in November, rising 0.4% over the month after falling in October. Consumption gains were led by durable goods purchases, which rose 2.7% over the month. Some of this strength is due to auto sales delayed by Sandy. Non-durable goods purchases fell for the second consecutive month in November, losing 1.0%.

Consumer prices, as measured by the PCE deflator, fell 0.2% in November, their first decline since May. Much of the decline was due to energy prices falling 4.4%. Core prices remained unchanged.

With income growth outpacing spending growth, the savings rate rose 0.2 points to 3.6%. November is the second month the savings rate has improved, putting it on par with Augusts level.

Read the BEA report.