Wednesday, March 26, 2014

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Personal Income and Consumption Rose in January

Personal income growth moderated in January, growing by 0.3%, down from the 0.5% growth reported in December. The BEA report released this morning indicated that personal consumption grew by 0.2% in January after failing to grow the previous month.


Personal income growth continued to be led by transfer and rental income. Wage income continues to grow as well, expanding at 0.4% for the second month. Disposable income grew by just 0.1% as tax payments jumped.

Consumption resumed growth in January led by durable goods. Durable goods spending grew by 0.9%, up from 0.5 % the previous month. This contrasts with a commerce department report that indicated durable goods spending shrunk 4% in January. This indicates that although businesses cut spending on capital goods, consumers continued buying durable goods.

Consumption of non-durable goods recovered in January, growing 0.4% after falling 0.8% in December.


The savings rate dropped slightly to 4.6% from 4.7% the previous month. The savings rate for the previous month was revised up substantially due to inclusion of third quarter census data.

Prices increased by 0.2% in January, faster than the 0.1% appreciation in December. Core prices also increased by 0.2%.

Read the report.