Personal income in the United States rose by $95.7 billion, or 0.4 percent, in August 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on September 26, 2025. Disposable personal income (DPI), which is personal income after taxes, also increased by 0.4 percent, totaling an additional $86.1 billion for the month.
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which measure household spending on goods and services, climbed by $129.2 billion, representing a 0.6 percent increase from July to August. The BEA noted that this rise was due to higher spending on both services ($77.2 billion) and goods ($52.0 billion).
Total personal outlays—which include PCE as well as personal interest payments and current transfer payments—went up by $132.9 billion during August. Americans’ personal saving reached $1.06 trillion for the month, with a saving rate of 4.6 percent.
The BEA attributed the growth in current-dollar personal income primarily to higher compensation and an increase in personal current transfer receipts.
Within compensation, both wages and salaries along with supplements saw increases, based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics program. Private sector wages and salaries rose by $28.7 billion overall, with service-producing industries accounting for a $28.8 billion gain while goods-producing industries saw a slight decrease of $0.1 billion. Government wages and salaries grew by $4.3 billion.
Supplements to wages and salaries also increased, driven mainly by higher employer contributions for employee pension and insurance funds.
Government social benefits to individuals and other current transfer receipts were up for the month as well; Medicare led the gains among government social benefits, while other transfers included a settlement from a domestic health insurance provider.
In terms of inflation measures, the PCE price index rose by 0.3 percent between July and August, while the core PCE price index—which excludes food and energy—increased by 0.2 percent over the same period.
For more detailed definitions and statistical conventions regarding these estimates or updates to national economic accounts methodology, readers can visit “Additional Information” provided by BEA.