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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS BUSINESS NEWS REPORTS ____________PERSONAL INCOME IN JANUARY 1 9 5 0 _________ FOR RELEASE- Immediate, Thursday March 16, 1950 OBE 3ILL INSURANCE DIVIDENDS TO VETERANS BOOST JANUARY PERSONAL INCOME Personal income in January — » exclusive of payment of the special insurance divi dend to veterans — was at an annual rate $1 billion higher than in December, the Office of Business Economics, U. S. Department of Commerce announced today. The inauguration of the program for payment of the special dividend from the National Service Life Insurance fund resulted in an extraordinary increase of total personal income from an annual rate of $211.9 billion in December to ¿218.1+ billion in January, the Department reported. In January these National Service Life Insurance dividend payments to veterans of World War II amounted to $1*50.million. When put on an annual-rate basis to con form with other personal income data, the payments were at an annual rate of almost $5i billion. The Department emphasized that the payment of the special"dividend will fee substantially completed within a few months, however. Personal income estimates include wage and salary receipts, the net incomes of proprietorships and partnerships (farm and nonfarm), dividends and interest, net rents received by landlords, and other types of individual income. Annual rates, which facilitate comparison with previous annual totals, represent the seasonally adjusted dollar totals for each month multiplied b y 12. Wage and salary receipts in January, at an annual rate of $13l*.l billion, were approximately the same as in December. In most industries pay rolls in January were unchanged from the previous month. The stability of factory wages in both the durablegoods and nondurable-goods industries was in marked contrast to the sharp declines which occurred i‘n the same period last year. Increased contributions by employees for social insurance reflecting the higher rates under the old age and survivors insurance program — partly offset other increases in personal income in January. Such contributions, which increased from an annual rate of $2.2 billion in December to $2.8 billion in January, are deducted in obtaining the wage-and-salary component of personal income. Interest and dividends declined from an annual rate of $18.9 billion in December to $17.1* billion in January. This drop was concentrated in corporate dividend pay ments, which in December included a large year-end disbursement b y one automobile manufacturing company. Proprietors' and rental income rose from an annual rate of $1*3.5 billion in i) BE BUSINESS NEW S REPORTS REGULARLY AVAILABLE: BUSINESS INVENTORIES, Monthly CASH DIVIDEND PAYMENTS, Monthly WHOLESALERS' SALES AND INVENTORIES, Monthly RETAIL STORE SALES, Monthly PLANT AND EQUIPMENT SURVEY, Quarterly BALANCE OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS, Quarterly PERSONAL INCOME, Monthly CHAIN STORE AND MAIL ORDER SALES, Monthly MANUFACTURERS’ SALES AND INVENTORIES. Monthly -2- December to $14.6.2 billion in January. Most of this increase occurred in the income of farm proprietors, which on a monthly basis exhibits considerable irregularity. The January rise in farm income stemmed mainly from an increase in the seasonally adjusted volume of crops marketed or placed under Government loan. Nonfarm pro prietors' income also rose in January, reflecting chiefly larger sales of retail trade establishments. Transfer payments rose from an annual rate of $12.8 billion in December to $18.5 billion in January. Nearly all of this large increase resulted from disburse ments of the special National Service Life Insurance dividend. Details of personal income for December 19h9, January 1950* and other recent periods are presented in the following tablej t S Mont h l y Personal Income in t he U n i t e d States (Seasonally adjusted annual rates in billions ©f dollars) Jan. 1950 Dec. 1949 Nov. 19 4 9 Jan. 1949 Dec. 1948 Nov. 1948 Total personal income ................ Wage and salary receipts ......... Total employer disbursements ... Commodity-producing industries Distributive industries ¿/.... Service industries Government .................... . Less employee contributions for social insurance ................. Other labor income .............. . P r o p r i e t o r s 1 and R e n t a l income ....... Personal interest income and dividends Transfer payments _ / .................... 218.4 134.1 136.9 57.4 40.2 17.5 21.8 211.9 134.4 136.6 57.4 39.9 17.4 21.9 209.4 132.5 134.7 56.0 39.5 17.4 21.8 214.6 135.9 138.2 60.5 40.3 17.1 20.3 217.0 137.1 139.4 62.3 40.0 16.9 20.2 216.6 137.5 139.7 62.7 39.8 16.9 20.3 2.8 2.2 46.2 17.4 18.5 2.2 2.2 43.5 18.9 12.8 2.2 2.2 44.9 17.4 12.4 2.3 2.0 48.5 17.0 11.2 2.3 2.0 50.3 16.9 10.7 2.2 2.0 49.8 16.9 10.4 Total n o nagricultural income y Total agricultural income .. 199.5 18.S 194.5 17.4 191.3 18.1 192.0 22.6 193.6 23.4 192.8 23.8 Full year 1949 “ 1 9 4 8 209.8 133.5 135.7 57.3 40.2 17.2 21.0 2.2 2.1 44.8 17.^3 12.2 191.4 18.4 211.9 133.1 135.2 60.4 39.2 16.6 19.1 2.1 2.0 49.5 16.2 11.1 188.8 23.1 l/ "Commodity-producing industries" consists of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mining, Contract construction and Manufacturing. "Distributive industries" consists of Wholesale a n d retail trade, T r a n s portation and Communication and public utilities. "Service industries" comprises Finance, Insurance and real estate and Services. 2/ Consists mainly of veterans’ payments and social insurance benefits, including the National Service Life Insurance dividend. . 3 / Equals personal income exclusive of net income of unincorporated farm enterprises, Fa r m Wages, A g r i c u l tural net rents, Agricultural net interest, and Net dividends pa i d b y agricultural corporations.
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