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Last Update: 30-Jan-12 10:58 ET
Personal Savings Rate Jumps as Consumers Hold Off on Spending
Personal income increased a healthy 0.5% in December. Personal spending growth was flat. This led to a 0.5 percentage point increase in the personal savings rate, from 3.5% to 4.0%.
The Briefing.com consensus expected personal income and spending to increase 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
The personal income and spending data were already incorporated in the fourth quarter GDP report released last Friday. These data points will not affect future revisions.
Assuming there were no revisions to the October and November data, the GDP report implied a 0.4% and 0.0% increase in personal income and spending, respectively. These growth levels were in-line with the reported December data.
Goods spending declined for a second consecutive month, down 0.4% in December after falling 0.1% in November. That was far worse than the retail spending data, which showed a slight 0.1% increase in goods demand. Services consumption increased 0.2%.
The Briefing.com consensus expected personal income and spending to increase 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
The personal income and spending data were already incorporated in the fourth quarter GDP report released last Friday. These data points will not affect future revisions.
Assuming there were no revisions to the October and November data, the GDP report implied a 0.4% and 0.0% increase in personal income and spending, respectively. These growth levels were in-line with the reported December data.
Goods spending declined for a second consecutive month, down 0.4% in December after falling 0.1% in November. That was far worse than the retail spending data, which showed a slight 0.1% increase in goods demand. Services consumption increased 0.2%.
