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FRIDAY September 28, 2007

Consumer Spending Accelerates in August
Average
growth,
last 12
months

Personal income, a broad current-dollar measure, rose 0.3
percent in August, after rising 0.5 percent in July. Wages and
salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased
0.2 percent, after increasing 0.4 percent in July.
Real disposable personal income (DPI), the after-tax
amount available for spending or saving, increased 0.4
percent in August, after increasing 0.5 percent in July.
Real consumer spending (personal consumption
expenditures) increased 0.6 percent in August after
increasing 0.3 percent in July. Spending on motor vehicles,
mainly trucks, turned up. The August increase in consumer
spending was the largest since July 2005.
Prices, as measured by the personal consumption
expenditures price index, decreased 0.1 percent in August,
compared with a 0.1 percent increase in July. Excluding food
and energy, prices rose 0.1 percent, the same as in July.

July

August

Personal
Income

0.5%

0.5%

0.3%

Real DPI

0.4%

0.5%

0.4%

Real PCE

0.3%

0.3%

0.6%

PCE Prices

0.1%

0.1%

−0.1%

12-month
average

July

August

0.7%

0.9%

0.7%

Personal saving as a percent of disposable personal income
was 0.7 percent in August.
Personal
Saving
Rate

Real Disposable Personal Income and
Real Consumer Spending

Percent change (monthly)

1.0

0.5

0.0

-0.5

-1.0
Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Real Disposable Personal Income

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Real Consumer Spending

BEA data—including GDP, personal income, the balance of payments, foreign direct investment, the input-output accounts, and
economic data for states, local areas, and industries—are available on the BEA Web site: www.bea.gov. E-mail alerts are also available.
NOTE: On November 1, 2007, the September estimates of Personal Income and Outlays will be released.
Contact: Ralph Stewart 202–606–2649

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce