The U.S. Commerce Department has released its report on personal income and spending for the month of August. Personal income rose by 0.3% and consumer spending rose 0.5%. Both reports met the Bloomberg consensus estimates on the headline.
Personal income is measured by the total dollars of income received from all sources by individuals, while personal spending is measured by the dollar amount of all consumer purchases of goods and services.
When you get into the PCE Price Index, the reading was flat in August, not much different from the -0.1% expected by Bloomberg.
Monday’s report is not one that deserves much fanfare nor criticism, as the numbers were effectively right in line with expectations. That being said, this is another report showing that the consumer sector remains healthy. That won’t add any great changes to GDP estimates for the third quarter, but it will likely keep those estimates healthy.
Stocks remained under pressure after this report on Monday morning, and all eyes will likely remain focused on the coming unemployment and payrolls report from the U.S. Labor Department this Friday.
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