News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 10:00 A.M. EST, Wednesday, November 27, 2019
BEA 19-63

Personal Income and Outlays, October 2019

Personal income increased $3.3 billion (less than 0.1 percent) in October according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $12.6 billion (-0.1 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $39.7 billion (0.3 percent).

Real DPI decreased 0.3 percent in October and Real PCE increased 0.1 percent. The PCE price index increased 0.2 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.1 percent.

  2019
Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct.
Percent change from preceding month
Personal income:  
     Current dollars

0.4

0.2

0.5

0.3

0.0

Disposable personal income:          
     Current dollars

0.4

0.3

0.6

0.3

-0.1

     Chained (2012) dollars

0.2

0.0

0.6

0.3

-0.3

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE):          
     Current dollars

0.3

0.5

0.2

0.2

0.3

     Chained (2012) dollars

0.2

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.1

Price indexes:          
     PCE

0.1

0.2

0.0

0.0

0.2

     PCE, excluding food and energy

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0

0.1

Price indexes: Percent change from month one year ago
     PCE

1.4

1.4

1.4

1.3

1.3

     PCE, excluding food and energy

1.6

1.6

1.8

1.7

1.6

QCEW Data Included in the Second Quarter of 2019

This news release includes revised estimates of wages and salaries, personal taxes, and contributions for government social insurance for April through June 2019 (second quarter). These estimates reflect the incorporation of newly available second-quarter private wages and salaries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

The increase in personal income in October primarily reflected an increase in wages and salaries that was partially offset by decreases in personal interest income and in farm proprietors’ income (table 3). BEA adjusted October wages and salaries upward by $7.2 billion (at an annual rate) to account for strike pay and payments associated with contract ratification for members of the United Automobile Workers.

 

The $11.3 billion increase in real PCE in October reflected a $16.4 billion increase in spending for services that was partially offset by a $7.4 billion decrease in spending for goods (table 7). Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was spending for household electricity and gas. Within goods, new motor vehicles was the leading contributor to the decrease. Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.3.6U.

Personal outlays increased $43.1 billion in October (table 3). Personal saving was $1.29 trillion in October and the personal saving rate, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, was 7.8 percent (table 1).

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for April through September. Revised and previously published changes from the preceding month for current-dollar personal income, and for current-dollar and chained (2012) dollar DPI and PCE, are shown below.

  Change from preceding month
August September
Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised
(Billions of dollars) (Percent) (Billions of dollars) (Percent)
Personal income:  
     Current dollars

87.5

95.9

0.5

0.5

50.2

51.8

0.3

0.3

Disposable personal income:                
     Current dollars

92.2

99.1

0.6

0.6

55.7

56.4

0.3

0.3

     Chained (2012) dollars

80.3

86.8

0.5

0.6

51.5

52.4

0.3

0.3

Personal consumption expenditures:                
     Current dollars

32.1

34.4

0.2

0.2

24.3

32.0

0.2

0.2

     Chained (2012) dollars

26.0

28.4

0.2

0.2

22.8

30.0

0.2

0.2

Personal Income and Outlays Release Dates for 2020

December 2019

- January 31

April 2020

- May 29

August 2020

- October 1

January 2020

- February 28

May 2020

- June 26

September 2020

- October 30

February 2020

- March 27

June 2020

- July 31

October 2020

- November 25

March 2020

- April 30

July 2020

- August 28

November 2020

- December 23

Next release: December 20, 2019 at 10:00 A.M. EST
Personal Income and Outlays: November 2019