Income & Saving

The percent change in real metropolitan area personal income ranged from 14.8 percent in Midland, MI to -5.9 percent in Enid, OK.

The percent change in real state personal income ranged from 4.5 percent in New York to -1.3 percent in North Dakota.

By the end of April, key national economic indicators will be on their original 2019 schedule, as the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ timetable of releases continues to recover from disruptions earlier in the year.

The advance, or first, estimate of gross domestic product for the first quarter will be released April 26 at 8:30 a.m., in accordance with BEA’s original calendar. The second and third estimates of first quarter GDP also are back on their original schedule.

The rest of BEA’s national statistics will catch up when data on personal income and consumer spending are released in late April.

Personal income increased 0.2 percent in February after decreasing 0.1 percent in January. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.3 percent in February, the same increase as in January.

State personal income increased 4.5 percent in 2018, after increasing 4.4 percent in 2017. In 2018, personal income increased in all states and the District of Columbia. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from 6.8 percent in Washington to 2.9 percent in Hawaii.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has completed its comprehensive update of state and local area personal income statistics, some reaching back as far as 1929.

Comprehensive, or benchmark, updates are performed approximately every five years. They provide the opportunity to incorporate newly available and revised source data and to introduce improvements in statistical methods. BEA’s full time series are updated to provide consistent comparisons over time.

Statistics on consumer spending in January, also known as personal consumption expenditures, have been rescheduled for release March 29 because of the effects of the temporary lapse in federal funding.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis typically releases each month’s personal income and spending data together in the Personal Income and Outlays report. However, because of delays in the availability of some source data, the schedule for income and outlay statistics will be temporarily misaligned.