Personal income in the United States rose by $147.4 billion, or 0.6 percent, in October, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI), which is personal income after taxes, increased by $144.1 billion or 0.7 percent, while personal consumption expenditures (PCE) went up by $72.3 billion or 0.4 percent.
The PCE price index saw a rise of 0.2 percent in October, with a more significant increase of 0.3 percent when excluding food and energy costs. Real DPI grew by 0.4 percent and real PCE edged up by 0.1 percent; goods experienced a marginal increase of less than 0.1 percent and services rose by 0.2 percent.
The growth in current-dollar personal income was mainly due to increases in compensation, asset income receipts, and transfer receipts from the government.
October's $72.3 billion boost in current-dollar PCE was driven by a $74.7 billion rise in service spending and a decrease of $2.3 billion in goods spending. The primary contributors to the service sector increase were health care and housing expenses, while gasoline led the decline within goods.
Personal outlays—which include PCE, interest payments, and transfer payments—rose by $69.8 billion during October, with personal savings reaching $962.7 billion for the month at a saving rate of 4.4 percent.
In terms of prices from September to October, the PCE price index climbed by 0.2 percent overall; goods prices dropped slightly by 0.1 percent while services prices increased by 0.4 percent.
Compared to October last year, the PCE price index advanced by 2.3 percent; goods prices fell by 1 percent whereas services prices rose significantly at 3.9 percent.
Real PCE's modest increase was largely attributed to minor gains in both goods and services spending—the most notable being recreational goods within products and health care within services.
Updates were made for estimates from April through September based on revised wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.
The next release covering November will be available on December 20th at 8:30 a.m., EST.