Updated: 01-Apr-24 07:38 ET

February Personal Income and Spending

Updated: 01-Apr-24 07:38 ET

Highlights

• Personal income increased 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) in February.
• Personal spending jumped 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%).
• The PCE Price Index was up 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) following a 0.4% increase in January. On a year-over-year basis, the PCE Price Index was up 2.5%, versus 2.4% in January.
• The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) on the heels of a 0.5% increase in January. On a year-over-year basis, the core PCE Price Index was up 2.8%, versus 2.9% in January.

Key Factors

• Wages and salaries jumped a hefty 0.8% month-over-month after a 0.3% increase in January.
• Rental income increased 1.6% month-over-month in the wake of a 1.4% increase in January.
• Personal interest income was down 0.4% month-over-month while personal dividend income fell 3.7%.
• Real disposable income declined 0.1% month-over-month and was up 1.7% year-over-year.
• Real personal spending increased 0.4% month-over-month following a 0.2% decrease in January and was up 2.4% year-over-year.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is the sticky nature of the price indexes, although a close second is the recognition that spending outpaced income by a significant amount. Notably, the personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable income fell to 3.6% from 4.1%, indicating that the growth in spending was driven by consumers spending out of savings.

Category	FEB	JAN	DEC	NOV	OCT
Personal Income
Total Income	0.3%	1.0%	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%
Wage and Salary	0.8%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.2%
Disposable Income	0.2%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.2%
Savings Rate	3.6%	4.1%	3.9%	4.0%	4.0%
Personal Consumption
Total (Nominal)	0.8%	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
Total (Real, Chain $)	0.4%	-0.2%	0.5%	0.4%	0.2%
Core PCE Deflator
Month/Month	0.3%	0.5%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Year/Year	2.8%	2.9%	2.9%	3.2%	3.4%