News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
BEA 20—68

Personal Income and Outlays, November 2020

Personal income decreased $221.8 billion (1.1 percent) in November according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 3 and 5). Disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $218.0 billion (1.2 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $63.3 billion (0.4 percent).

Real DPI decreased 1.3 percent in November and Real PCE decreased 0.4 percent (tables 5 and 7). The PCE price index had no change. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index had no change (table 9).

  2020
July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Percent change from preceding month
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.9 -2.6 0.8 -0.6 -1.1
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.8 -3.1 0.8 -0.7 -1.2
     Chained (2012) dollars 0.5 -3.3 0.6 -0.8 -1.3
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE):  
     Current dollars 1.5 1.2 1.3 0.3 -0.4
     Chained (2012) dollars 1.2 0.9 1.1 0.3 -0.4
Price indexes:  
     PCE 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0
     PCE, excluding food and energy 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0
Price indexes: Percent change from month one year ago
     PCE 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.1
     PCE, excluding food and energy 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.4
COVID-19 Impact on November 2020 Personal Income and Outlays
The November estimate for personal income and outlays was impacted by the response to the spread of COVID-19. Federal economic recovery payments slowed as pandemic-related assistance programs continued to wind down. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the personal income and outlays estimate because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. For more information, see Effects of Selected Federal Pandemic Response Programs on Personal Income.

The decrease in personal income in November primarily reflected decreases in proprietors’ income (both nonfarm and farm) and government social benefits that were partly offset by an increase in compensation (table 3).

  • Within nonfarm proprietors’ income, the decrease reflected a decline in Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses.
  • The decrease in farm proprietors’ income reflected a decrease in payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program related to supporting farmers and ranchers impacted by COVID-19 as well as a decline in Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses.
  • Within government social benefits, “other” social benefits decreased, which primarily reflected a decrease in Lost Wages Supplemental Payments, a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that provides wage assistance to individuals impacted by the pandemic.
  • Within compensation, the main contributor was an increase in wages and salaries in service-producing industries.

The $58.5 billion decrease in real PCE in November reflected decreases of $53.7 billion in spending for goods and $12.1 billion in spending for services (table 7). Within goods, the leading contributors to the decrease were spending for clothing and footwear as well as motor vehicles and parts (mainly new motor vehicles). A notable offset was an increase in spending for food and beverages purchased for offpremises consumption. Within services, the decrease primarily reflected decreases in spending for food services and accommodations as well as in household utilities (electricity and gas). Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.3.6U.

Personal outlays decreased $66.8 billion in November (table 3). Personal saving was $2.22 trillion in November and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 12.9 percent (table 1).

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for September and October. 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
September October
Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised
(Billions of dollars) (Percent) (Billions of dollars) (Percent)
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 147.1 150.8 0.7 0.8 -130.1 -127.4 -0.7 -0.6
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 130.8 131.6 0.7 0.8 -134.8 -130.5 -0.8 -0.7
     Chained (2012) dollars 91.5 92.6 0.6 0.6 -120.7 -121.1 -0.8 -0.8
Personal consumption expenditures:  
     Current dollars 175.5 185.6 1.2 1.3 70.9 47.4 0.5 0.3
     Chained (2012) dollars 136.2 145.4 1.1 1.1 63.5 38.9 0.5 0.3

 

*          *          *

Next release: January 29, 2021, at 8:30 A.M. EST
Personal Income and Outlays, December 2020

*          *          *

Personal Income and Outlays
Release Dates for 2021
Estimate Release Date
December 2020 January 29, 2021
January 2021 February 26, 2021
February 2021 March 26, 2021
March 2021 April 30, 2021
April 2021 May 28, 2021
May 2021 June 25, 2021
June 2021 July 30, 2021
July 2021 August 27, 2021
August 2021 October 1, 2021
September 2021 October 29, 2021
October 2021 November 24, 2021
November 2021 December 23, 2021