Personal income increased $71.6 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in September. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $57.4 billion (0.3 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $106.3 billion (0.5 percent) and consumer spending increased $105.8 billion (0.5 percent). Personal saving was $1.00 trillion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6 percent in September.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024, according to the “advance” estimate. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.0 percent. The increase in the third quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The U.S. goods and services trade deficit decreased from $78.9 billion in July (revised) to $70.4 billion in August, as exports increased and imports decreased. The goods deficit decreased $8.4 billion to $94.9 billion, and the services surplus increased $0.1 billion to $24.4 billion.
Personal income increased $50.5 billion (0.2 percent at a monthly rate) in August. Disposable personal income —personal income less personal current taxes— increased $34.2 billion (0.2 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $48.3 billion (0.2 percent) and consumer spending increased $47.2 billion (0.2 percent). Personal saving was $1.05 trillion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.8 percent in August.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of 2024, according to the “third” estimate. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 1.6 percent (revised). The second-quarter increase in real GDP was the same as previously estimated in the “second” estimate released in August.
