Personal income decreased 3.6 percent in January after increasing 2.6 percent in December, reflecting accelerated bonus payments and dividend distributions in December in anticipation of income tax rate changes.
Current-dollar disposable personal income (DPI), after-tax income, decreased 4.0 percent in January after increasing 2.7 percent in December. A “payroll tax holiday” expired, boosting employee contributions for government social insurance. Excluding all special factors, DPI rose 0.3 percent in January, the same increase as in December.
Real DPI, income adjusted for taxes and inflation, decreased 4.0 percent in January after increasing 2.7 percent in December.
Real consumer spending, spending adjusted for price changes, increased 0.1 percent in January, the same increase as in December.
PCE prices remained flat in January, the same as in December. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index rose 0.1 percent in January after remaining flat in December.
Personal saving rate
Personal saving as a percent of DPI was 2.4 percent in January, compared with 6.4 percent in December.
To learn more about personal income and outlays, read the full report.