Updated: 30-May-17 09:20 ET
| April Personal Income and Spending |
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| Updated: 30-May-17 09:20 ET |
Highlights
- Personal income and personal spending were both up 0.4% for the month, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus estimates.
- The PCE Price Index was up 0.2%, as was the core-PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%).
- The personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable income held steady at 5.3%.
Key Factors
- An increase in wages and private salaries (+0.7%) drove the uptick in personal income in April
- Real PCE, which is the core component of the GDP report, was up 0.2% in April. Spending on goods was up 0.7% while spending on services was flat on a chained basis.
- Real disposable personal income was up 0.2% for the month and up 1.9% year-over-year versus up 2.0% in March
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is the year-over-year changes for the PCE Price Index (1.7% versus 1.9% in March) and the core-PCE Price Index (1.5% versus 1.6% in March) decelerated from the prior month. That is unlikely to alter the prevailing view that the Fed will raise the target range for the fed funds rate at its June meeting, although it will stir some belief that another rate hike this year may not happen.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
| Personal Income | |||||
| Total Income | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| Wage and Salary | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| Disposable Income | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| Savings Rate | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.0% | 4.5% |
| Personal Consumption | |||||
| Total (Nominal) | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| Total (Real, Chain $) | 0.2% | 0.5% | -0.1% | -0.3% | 0.4% |
| Core PCE Deflator | |||||
| Month/Month | 0.2% | -0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Year/Year | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.7% |