Americans' personal income growth slows down, but spending rises

Washington, US – Americans' personal income growth slowed down in February, but their personal spending accelerated on a monthly basis, according to official figures released Friday.

Personal income increased $66.5bn, or 0.3% at a monthly rate in February, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday.

The figure is a significant slowdown from the 1% monthly increase recorded in January, while it also came lower than the market estimates of a 0.4% gain.

"The increase in current-dollar personal income in February primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts that were partly offset by a decrease in personal income receipts on assets," the agency said in a statement as reported by Anadolu Agency.

Disposable personal income, which is personal income minus personal current taxes, increased $50.3bn, or 0.2%, from the previous month.

Personal spending, also referred to as personal consumption expenditures (PCE), increased $145.5bn, or 0.8%, in February from the month before.

That figure showed a significant increase from the 0.2% monthly gain in January, while it came in much higher than the market expectations of a 0.5% gain. "The $145.5bn increase in current-dollar PCE in February reflected an increase of $111.8bn in spending for services and a $33.7bn increase in spending for goods," said the agency.

"Personal saving was $745.7bn in February and the personal saving rate – personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income – was 3.6%," it added.

Meanwhile, US inflation numbers released alongside the income and spending data point to continued moderation in price pressures, in line with what Federal Reserve officials want to see as they weigh whether to raise rates further.

Over the last three months, core personal consumption inflation has risen at a 2.9% annual rate, down from a 3.3% rate in the three months ended in June.