Updated: 29-Mar-18 09:14 ET
| February Personal Income and Spending |
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| Updated: 29-Mar-18 09:14 ET |
Highlights
- For the second month in a row, the Personal Income and Spending report was in-line with expectations.
- The report showed a modest uptick in the PCE Price Index, which increased 1.8% year-over-year after being up 1.7% year-over-year in January. The core PCE Price Index was up 1.6% year-over-year after three consecutive months of 1.5% year-over-year growth. Real PCE increased less than 0.1%, which should have a negligible impact on Q1 GDP calculations.
Key Factors
- Personal Income increased 0.4% (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%), primarily due to a 0.6% increase in wages and salaries and a 0.6% increase in nonfarm proprietors' income
- Personal Spending rose 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%)
- The PCE Price Index increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%)
- The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, also increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%)
- The personal savings rate increased to 3.4% from 3.2% in January
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that it won't influence Fed officials to significantly alter the course of monetary policy.
| Category | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT |
| Personal Income | |||||
| Total Income | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Wage and Salary | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| Disposable Income | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Savings Rate | 3.4% | 3.2% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.9% |
| Personal Consumption | |||||
| Total (Nominal) | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| Total (Real, Chain $) | 0.0% | -0.2% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| Core PCE Deflator | |||||
| Month/Month | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Year/Year | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% |