Personal Income and Outlays, September 2020

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis source. Statistical tables, charts, standard technical appendices and administrative material are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's original vintage and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete release and current data.

Personal income increased $170.3 billion (0.9 percent) in September according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 3 and 5). Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $150.3 billion (0.9 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $201.4 billion (1.4 percent).

Real DPI increased 0.7 percent in September and Real PCE increased 1.2 percent (tables 5 and 7). The PCE price index increased 0.2 percent (table 9). Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.2 percent.

The increase in personal income in September reflected increases in proprietors’ income, compensation of employees, and rental income of persons that were partly offset by a decrease in government social benefits (table 3). Within compensation, government wage and salary disbursements decreased $7.4 billion in September, following an increase of $23.9 billion in August. Temporary and intermittent Census decennial workers boosted government wages and salaries by $9.3 billion in September after adding $10.8 billion in August. Within government social benefits, unemployment insurance benefits decreased while “other” social benefits increased. Within unemployment insurance, the leading contributor was a decrease in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which provided weekly supplemental payments of $600 that expired on July 31. Within “other” social benefits, there was an increase in Lost Wages Supplemental Payments, a Federal Emergency Management Administration program that provides wage assistance to individuals impacted by the pandemic.

The $159.2 billion increase in real PCE in September reflected an increase of $109.9 billion in spending for goods and a $61.0 billion increase in spending for services (table 7). Within goods, clothing and footwear as well as motor vehicles and parts (led by new motor vehicles) were the leading contributors to the increase. Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were spending for health care (led by outpatient services) as well as recreation services (led by membership clubs, sports centers, parks, theaters, and museums). Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.6U.

Personal outlays increased $217.5 billion in September (table 3). Personal saving was $2.51 trillion in September and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 14.3 percent (table 1).

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for July and August. Revised and previously published changes from the preceding month for current-dollar personal income, and for current-dollar and chained (2012) dollar DPI and PCE, are shown below.