Income & Saving

Personal income increased $147.4 billion (0.6 percent at a monthly rate) in October. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $144.1 billion (0.7 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $69.8 billion (0.3 percent) and consumer spending increased $72.3 billion (0.4 percent). Personal saving was $962.7 billion and the personal saving rate— personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.4 percent in October.

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.

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.

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. 

A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora

When I hear the phrase “personal income,” I think about my paycheck. When we talk about personal income in the context of BEA’s economic statistics, however, it’s my paycheck, your paycheck, your cousin’s paycheck—and much more. In fact, I believe our monthly personal income statistics are the most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity available on a monthly basis. They are also a widely used tool for analyzing consumer purchasing power.

Personal income increased $50.4 billion (0.2 percent at a monthly rate) in June. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $37.7 billion (0.2 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $59.3 billion (0.3 percent) and consumer spending increased $57.6 billion (0.3 percent). Personal saving was $703.0 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.4 percent in June. 

A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora

Every year, usually in January, I feel absolutely committed to getting a better handle on my finances. All I want to understand—not just at the end of the year, but throughout the year—is exactly what is coming in, what is going out, and what I have left over. Yet I can never seem to calculate these “personal profits,” nor how far I am from the mythical financial goals I’m supposed to have. Maybe my struggles are why I find our estimates of corporate profits at BEA so remarkable.

Real gross domestic product increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 2024, with the percent change ranging from 5.0 percent at an annual rate in Idaho to –4.2 percent in South Dakota. 

Personal income increased $114.1 billion (0.5 percent at a monthly rate) in May. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $94.0 billion (0.5 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $56.4 billion (0.3 percent) and consumer spending increased $47.8 billion (0.2 percent). Personal saving was $806.1 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.9 percent in May. 

BEA has released a set of prototype statistics that help assess how households share in each state’s economic growth. The statistics, now available for 2022, show how personal income is distributed across each state’s households and provide metrics that can be used to study income inequality.