A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora
BEA’s price index for personal consumption expenditures—the PCE price index—gets a lot of attention when it’s released every month. For good reason: the Federal Reserve and policymakers around the world rely on it as a key inflation gauge.
National and industry statistics for the previous five years will be updated Sept. 26 as part of BEA’s regular annual updates to gross domestic product and related estimates. Updates to state and local statistics will begin Sept. 27.
The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $73.0 billion in June (revised) to $78.8 billion in July, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $5.6 billion to $103.1 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.2 billion to $24.3 billion.
Personal income increased $75.1 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in July. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $54.8 billion (0.3 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $103.3 billion (0.5 percent) and consumer spending increased $103.8 billion (0.5 percent). Personal saving was $598.8 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 2.9 percent in July.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of 2024, according to the “second” estimate. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 1.4 percent. The GDP estimate for the second quarter was revised up 0.2 percentage point from the “advance” estimate, primarily reflecting an upward revision to consumer spending.