U.S. Personal Income Drops In October, But Personal Spending Rises

The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a decrease in U.S. personal income in the month of October.

The report said personal income fell by 0.7 percent in October after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7 percent in September.

Economists had expected personal income to come in unchanged compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Disposable personal income, or personal income less personal current taxes, also slid by 0.8 percent in October after rising by 0.7 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the report said personal spending rose by 0.5 percent in October after jumping by a revised 1.2 percent in September.

Economists had expected spending to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 1.4 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding price changes, personal spending still rose by 0.5 percent in October following a 1.1 percent increase in September.

With income falling and spending climbing, personal saving as a percentage of disposable income dropped to 13.6 percent from 14.6 percent.