News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EDT, Thursday, October 31, 2024
BEA 24—49

Personal Income and Outlays, September 2024

Personal income

Personal income increased $71.6 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in September, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 2 and 3). Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $57.4 billion (0.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $105.8 billion (0.5 percent).

The PCE price index increased 0.2 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent (table 5). Real DPI increased 0.1 percent in September and real PCE increased 0.4 percent; goods increased 0.7 percent and services increased 0.2 percent (tables 3 and 4).

  2024
May June July Aug. Sept.
Percent change from preceding month
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3
     Chained (2017) dollars 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE):  
     Current dollars 0.5 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.5
     Chained (2017) dollars 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.4
Price indexes:  
     PCE 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2
     PCE, excluding food and energy 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3
Price indexes: Percent change from month one year ago
     PCE 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.1
     PCE, excluding food and energy 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.7

The increase in current-dollar personal income in September primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts that were partly offset by decreases in personal interest income and proprietors’ income (table 2).

The $105.8 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in September reflected an increase of $72.1 billion in spending for services and an increase of $33.7 billion in spending for goods (table 2). Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were health care and housing and utilities (led by housing). Within goods, the largest contributors to the increase were other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs), food and beverages, and motor vehicles and parts (led by new light trucks). These increases were partly offset by a decrease in gasoline and other energy goods. Detailed information on monthly PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.5U.

Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $106.3 billion in September (table 2). Personal saving was $1.00 trillion in September and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6 percent (table 1).

Prices

From the preceding month, the PCE price index for September increased 0.2 percent (table 5). Prices for goods decreased 0.1 percent and prices for services increased 0.3 percent. Food prices increased 0.4 percent and energy prices decreased 2.0 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Detailed monthly PCE price indexes can be found on Table 2.4.4U.

From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for September increased 2.1 percent (table 7). Prices for goods decreased 1.2 percent and prices for services increased 3.7 percent. Food prices increased 1.2 percent and energy prices decreased 8.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.7 percent from one year ago.

Real PCE

The 0.4 percent increase in real PCE in September reflected an increase of 0.7 percent in spending on goods and an increase of 0.2 percent in spending on services (table 4). Within goods, the largest contributor to the increase was other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs). Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was food services and accommodations (led by purchased meals and beverages). Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.6U.

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for July and August. Revised and previously published changes from the preceding month for current-dollar personal income, and for current-dollar and chained (2017) dollar DPI and PCE, are provided below.

  Change from preceding month
July August 
Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised
(Billions of dollars) (Percent) (Billions of dollars) (Percent)
Personal income:  
     Current dollars 65.1 81.2 0.3 0.3 50.5 57.0 0.2 0.2
Disposable personal income:  
     Current dollars 49.1 61.7 0.2 0.3 34.2 37.7 0.2 0.2
     Chained (2017) dollars 12.8 21.2 0.1 0.1 11.7 10.3 0.1 0.1
Personal consumption expenditures:  
     Current dollars 102.4 115.4 0.5 0.6 47.2 55.5 0.2 0.3
     Chained (2017) dollars 58.4 67.3 0.4 0.4 23.6 26.5 0.1 0.2

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Next release:  November 27, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. EST
Personal Income and Outlays, October 2024

 

 

Personal Income and Outlays Release Dates for 2025
Estimate  Release Date
December 2024 January 31, 2025
January 2025 February 28, 2025
February 2025 March 28, 2025
March 2025 April 30, 2025
April 2025 May 30, 2025
May 2025 June 27, 2025
June 2025 July 31, 2025
July 2025 August 29, 2025
August 2025 September 26, 2025
September 2025 October 31, 2025
October 2025 November 26, 2025
November 2025 December 19, 2025