News Release
Personal Income and Outlays, December 2007
DECEMBER 2007
Personal income increased $55.1 billion, or 0.5 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI)
increased $47.5 billion, or 0.5 percent, in December, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $23.5 billion, or 0.2 percent. In November,
personal income increased $47.6 billion, or 0.4 percent, DPI increased $37.6 billion, or 0.4 percent,
and PCE increased $94.6 billion, or 1.0 percent, based on revised estimates.
2007
Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
(Percent change from preceding month)
Personal income, current dollars 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.5
Disposable personal income:
Current dollars 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.5
Chained (2000) dollars 0.5 0.2 -0.1 -0.2 0.2
Personal consumption expenditures:
Current dollars 0.4 0.5 0.3 1.0 0.2
Chained (2000) dollars 0.4 0.2 -0.1 0.4 0.0
Wages and salaries
Private wage and salary disbursements increased $21.4 billion in December, compared with an
increase of $34.5 billion in November. Goods-producing industries' payrolls decreased $1.4 billion,
in contrast to an increase of $6.8 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $2.0 billion, in contrast
to an increase of $2.5 billion. Services-producing industries' payrolls increased $22.8 billion,
compared with an increase of $27.7 billion. Government wage and salary disbursements increased
$3.7 billion, compared with an increase of $4.0 billion.
Other personal income
Supplements to wages and salaries increased $4.8 billion in December, compared with an
increase of $5.9 billion in November.
Proprietors' income was unchanged in December, compared with an increase of $11.0 billion in
November. Farm proprietors' income increased $2.9 billion, compared with an increase of $2.3
billion. Nonfarm proprietors' income decreased $2.8 billion, in contrast to an increase of $8.6
billion.
Rental income of persons increased $2.9 billion in December, the same increase as in
November. Personal income receipts on assets (personal interest income plus personal dividend
income) increased $3.1 billion in December, compared with an increase of $3.3 billion in November.
Personal current transfer receipts increased $22.0 billion in December, in contrast to a decrease
of $8.9 billion in November. The December increase in personal current transfer receipts reflected
an increase in Medicare part D prescription drug benefit payments; these payments were reduced in
November as a result of the annual reconciliation of estimated and actual prescription drug costs.
The December increase in personal current transfer receipts also reflected retroactive social security
benefit payments of $7.0 billion at an annual rate, resulting from a recalculation of the earnings base
underlying the benefits for recent retirees.
Contributions for government social insurance -- a subtraction in calculating personal income --
increased $3.2 billion in December, compared with an increase of $5.0 billion in November.
Personal current taxes and disposable personal income
Personal current taxes increased $7.6 billion in December, compared with an increase of $10.0
billion in November. Disposable personal income (DPI) -- personal income less personal current
taxes -- increased $47.5 billion, or 0.5 percent, in December, compared with an increase of $37.6
billion, or 0.4 percent, in November.
Personal outlays and personal saving
Personal outlays -- PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments
increased $19.7 billion in December, compared with an increase of $90.7 billion in November. PCE
increased $23.5 billion, compared with an increase of $94.6 billion.
Personal saving -- DPI less personal outlays -- was a positive $26.0 billion in December, in
contrast to a negative $1.8 billion in November. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable
personal income was a 0.2 percent in December; in November, personal saving as a percentage of
disposable personal income was 0.0 percent. Saving from current income may be near zero or
negative when outlays are financed by borrowing (including borrowing financed through credit
cards or home equity loans), by selling investments or other assets, or by using savings from
previous periods. For more information, see the FAQs on "Personal Saving" on BEA's Web site.
For a comparison of personal saving in BEA's national income and product accounts with personal
saving in the Federal Reserve Board's flow of funds accounts and data on changes in net worth,
which help finance consumption, go to /bea/dn/nipaweb/Nipa-Frb.asp.
Real DPI and real PCE
Real DPI -- DPI adjusted to remove price changes -- increased 0.2 percent in December, in
contrast to a decrease of 0.2 percent in November.
Real PCE -- PCE adjusted to remove price changes -- decreased less than 0.1 percent in
December, in contrast to an increase of 0.4 percent in November. Purchases of durable goods
decreased 0.3 percent, compared with a decrease of less than 0.1 percent. Purchases of nondurable
goods decreased 0.2 percent, in contrast to an increase of 0.4 percent. Purchases of services
increased 0.1 percent, compared with an increase of 0.5 percent.
The price index for PCE increased 0.2 percent in December, compared with an increase of 0.6
percent in November. The PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 0.2 percent, the
same increase as in November.
2007 Personal Income and Outlays
Personal income increased 6.2 percent in 2007 (that is, from the 2006 annual level to the 2007
annual level), compared with an increase of 6.6 percent in 2006. DPI increased 5.8 percent,
compared with an increase of 5.9 percent. PCE increased 5.5 percent, compared with an increase of
5.9 percent.
Real DPI increased 3.1 percent in 2007, the same increase as in 2006. Real PCE increased 2.9
percent, compared with an increase of 3.1 percent.
Revisions
Estimates have been revised for October and November. Changes in personal income, current-
dollar and chained (2000) dollar DPI, and current-dollar and chained (2000) dollar PCE for October
and November -- revised and as published in last month's release -- are shown 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...................... 24.8 25.3 0.2 0.2 43.1 47.6 0.4 0.4
Disposable personal income:
Current dollars...................... 17.0 18.1 0.2 0.2 32.9 37.6 0.3 0.4
Chained (2000) dollars............... -13.2 -12.5 -0.2 -0.1 -21.9 -17.1 -0.3 -0.2
Personal consumption expenditures:
Current dollars...................... 39.4 25.1 0.4 0.3 110.6 94.6 1.1 1.0
Chained (2000) dollars............... 7.0 -5.4 0.1 -0.1 45.5 33.0 0.5 0.4
This release also includes revised estimates of population, per capita disposable personal income
(DPI), and per capita real DPI. The revised population estimates reflect newly available estimates from the
Census Bureau for March 2000 through December 2007. BEA population estimates are a mid-month
average of Census Bureau data. The revised per capita estimates reflect the revisions to the population
estimates. Estimates for the complete revision period are available on BEA's Web site at
www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=Y#S2.
BEA's national, international, regional, and industry estimates; the Survey of Current Business;
and BEA news releases are available without charge on BEA's Web site at www.bea.gov. By
visiting the site, you can also subscribe to receive free e-mail summaries of BEA releases and
announcements.
* * *
Next release -- February 29, 2008 at 8:30 A.M. EST for Personal Income and Outlays for January
Release dates in 2008
December 2007... January 31 April 2008... May 30 August 2008... September 29
January 2008... February 29 May 2008... June 27 September 2008... October 31
February 2008... March 28 June 2008... August 4 October 2008... November 26
March 2008... May 1 July 2008... August 29 November 2008... December 24