Posted on 05/30/2003 5:39:01 AM PDT by Starwind
U.S. April personal income unchanged
Friday May 30, 8:29 am ET
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Department personal income and spending estimates, in seasonally adjusted annual rates. Percent Changes, current dollars . Apr Mar Feb Jan Personal Income unch 0.4 0.2 0.4 Wages/Salaries -0.2 0.5 0.3 0.4 Disposable Income 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.7 Personal Consumption -0.1 0.8 0.1 -0.1 Durables 1.2 2.9 -2.4 -5.3 Nondurables -1.4 1.0 0.5 1.5 Services 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 Saving Rate, pct 3.7 3.5 4.0 4.0 Percent Changes, chained '96 dollars . Apr Mar Feb Jan Personal Consumption 0.1 0.5 -0.4 -0.2 Durables 1.5 3.1 -2.1 -5.0 Nondurables -0.6 0.6 -0.6 1.1 Services 0.2 unch 0.1 0.1 Disposable Income 0.3 unch -0.3 0.5 Percent Changes, chained '96 dollars . Apr Mar Feb Jan PCE Price Index -0.2 0.3 0.5 0.2 Core PCE Price Index 0.1 0.1 0.1 unch Current Dollars, in billions . Apr Mar Feb Jan Personal Income 9,163 9,159 9,121 9,103 Wages/Salaries 5,113 5,125 5,100 5,087 Disposable Income 8,070 8,065 8,037 8,025 Personal Income by sector, current dollars, in billions . Apr Mar Feb Jan Manufacturing 750 757 758 759 Service Industries 1,980 1,988 1,972 1,960 Government 889 885 882 875 Proprietors' Income 795 789 784 784 Farm 15 16 16 13 Nonfarm 781 773 768 772 Personal Consumption 7,550 7,558 7,495 7,487 Durables 882 872 847 867 Nondurables 2,196 2,227 2,204 2,193 Services 4,472 4,459 4,444 4,427 Chained '96 dollars, in billions . Apr Mar Feb Jan Personal Consumption 6,693 6,685 6,652 6,677 Durables 1,035 1,020 989 1,010 Nondurables 1,973 1,984 1,973 1,985 Services 3,721 3,713 3,715 3,713 Disposable Income 7,154 7,134 7,134 7,157 FORECASTS: Reuters survey of Wall Street economists forecast: U.S. April personal income unchanged U.S. April personal spending +0.1 pct HISTORICAL COMPARISONS/NOTES: U.S. APR PCE PRICE INDEX LARGEST DECLINE SINCE -0.5 PCT IN SEPT'01 U.S. APR PERSONAL INCOME WEAKEST READING SINCE JULY'02 (-0.4 PCT)
. ========================================================= U.S. Personal Income Apr Mar !Surprise: Yes ! . Income 0.0% 0.4%r !Trend: Income Flat! . Expenditures -0.1% 0.8%r !Spending Falls ! . !Survey: Unch;+0.1%! =========================================================By Rebecca Christie
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. personal income was flat in April and spending edged down, as consumers purchased more big ticket items but fewer perishable goods.
Personal income was mostly unchanged in April after an unrevised 0.4% gain in March, the Commerce Department said Friday. April's report marked the smallest change in personal income since July 2002, the last time personal income fell.
Personal consumption slid 0.1% in April after a revised 0.8% March gain, the biggest since February 2002. The Commerce Department had previously reported March spending as up 0.4%.
The April report was a little weaker than Wall Street expectations. A Dow Jones Newswires-CNBC survey of 20 economists had called for April personal income to be mostly unchanged, and for spending to rise 0.1%. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product.
The report showed that disposable personal income, or income after taxes, rose 0.1% in April, after a 0.4% gain in March.
Spending on durable goods, or items meant to last three years or more, rose 1.2% in April, following a 2.9% rise in March. But spending on nondurable goods fell 1.4% in April, after rising 1.0% in the previous month.
The changes in income and spending brought the savings rate to 3.7% in April, up from 3.5% in March. Commerce had previously reported the March savings rate, which measures savings as a percentage of disposable income, at 3.6%. By Rebecca Christie; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9249; rebecca.christie@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-30-03 0830ET- - 08 30 AM EDT 05-30-03
(Adds details, economist comment)WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending dipped slightly in April, the government said on Friday in a report highlighting the tepid growth pace of the U.S. economy.
The Commerce Department said personal spending fell by 0.1 percent after an upwardly revised 0.8 percent gain in March. Personal income was unchanged in April, the first time since July 2002 that incomes have not posted a monthly gain.
The report renews worries that consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, may be faltering. Robust spending, along with a vibrant housing market, have been among the economy's few areas of strength.
Wall Street analysts had expected incomes to post a flat reading in the month, and spending to have gained 0.1 percent.
The report also showed data that could stoke concerns about deflation, a general fall in prices usually accompanied by a severe slide in economic activity.
The price index for personal spending, an inflation measure closely watched by Federal Reserve officials, fell by 0.2 percent in April. That was the largest decline since September 2001, when it slid by 0.5 percent. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the index was up 0.1 percent.
"We are starting the second quarter on a weak footing in terms of consumer spending, which may begin to erode the estimates for second quarter (gross domestic product) growth," said Pierre Ellis, senior international economist.
"The erosion of the growth outlook is a very serious matter for the Fed because it implies greater and greater slack in the economy which exerts increasing downward force on inflation and threatens deflation sooner than had been imagined," he said.
In recent weeks, Fed officials have sought to soothe deflation fears by saying they are on guard against it, and that the risk the United States could see deflation is remote. Elsewhere in the report, the personal saving rate -- the percentage of income left over after expenses -- rose to 3.7 percent from 3.5 percent in March.
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