News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EST, Friday, January 27, 2023
BEA 23–03

Personal Income and Outlays, December 2022

Personal income increased $49.5 billion (0.2 percent) in December, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 3 and 5). Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $49.2 billion (0.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $41.6 billion (0.2 percent).

The PCE price index increased 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent (table 9). Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in December and Real PCE decreased 0.3 percent; goods decreased 0.9 percent and services were unchanged (tables 5 and 7).

  2022
Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Percent change from preceding month
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.2
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.3 0.3
     Chained (2012) dollars 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.2
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE):  
     Current dollars 0.7 0.6 0.8 -0.1 -0.2
     Chained (2012) dollars 0.5 0.3 0.4 -0.2 -0.3
Price indexes:  
     PCE 0.3 0.3  0.4 0.1 0.1
     PCE, excluding food and energy 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.3
Price indexes: Percent change from month one year ago
     PCE 6.3 6.3 6.1 5.5  5.0
     PCE, excluding food and energy 4.9 5.2 5.1 4.7 4.4

The increase in current-dollar personal income in December primarily reflected increases in compensation and proprietors' income (table 3). The increase in compensation reflected increases in private wages and salaries in both services-producing industries and goods-producing industries. The increase in proprietors' income reflected an increase in nonfarm income that was partly offset by a decrease in farm income.

The $41.6 billion decrease in current-dollar PCE in December reflected a decrease of $95.0 billion in spending for goods and a $53.4 billion increase in spending for services (table 3). Within goods, decreases were widespread and led by gasoline as well as motor vehicles and parts. Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were spending for housing, transportation (mainly air transportation), and health care. Detailed information on monthly PCE spending can be found on Table 2.3.5U.

Personal outlays decreased $39.2 billion in December (table 3). Personal saving was $637.5 billion in December and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.4 percent (table 1).

Prices

From the preceding month, the PCE price index for December increased 0.1 percent (table 9). Prices for goods decreased 0.7 percent and prices for services increased 0.5 percent. Food prices increased 0.2 percent and energy prices decreased 5.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Detailed monthly PCE price indexes can be found on Table 2.3.4U.

From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for December increased 5.0 percent (table 11). Prices for goods increased 4.6 percent and prices for services increased 5.2 percent. Food prices increased 11.2 percent and energy prices increased 6.9 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 4.4 percent from one year ago.

Real PCE

In December, real PCE decreased 0.3 percent, reflecting a decrease of 0.9 percent in spending on goods; spending on services was unchanged (table 7). Within goods, a decrease in motor vehicles and parts was partly offset by an increase in gasoline. Within services, increases in health care as well as housing and utilities (mainly natural gas) were offset by decreases in food services and accommodations as well as financial services and insurance. Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.3.6U.

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for October and November. 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 provided below.

  Change from preceding month
October  November 
Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised
(Billions of dollars) (Percent) (Billions of dollars) (Percent)
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 149.4 175.6 0.7 0.8 80.1 56.6 0.4 0.3
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 135.4 172.9 0.7 0.9 68.6 60.6 0.4 0.3
     Chained (2012) dollars 52.8 82.1 0.4 0.5 39.2 33.8 0.3 0.2
Personal consumption expenditures:  
     Current dollars 151.5 141.1 0.9 0.8 19.8 -19.1 0.1 -0.1
     Chained (2012) dollars 68.8 59.7 0.5 0.4 0.9 -29.3 0.0 -0.2

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Next release: February 24, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. EST
Personal Income and Outlays, January 2023

 

Personal Income and Outlays Release Dates for 2023
Estimate Release Date
December 2022 January 27, 2023
January 2023 February 24, 2023
February 2023 March 31, 2023
March 2023 April 28, 2023
April 2023 May 26, 2023
May 2023 June 30, 2023
June 2023 July 28, 2023
July 2023 August 31, 2023
August 2023 September 29, 2023
September 2023 October 27, 2023
October 2023 November 30, 2023
November 2023 December 22, 2023