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1 Feb 2016
US: Personal income remained strong in December - Wells Fargo
FXStreet (Córdoba) - Analysts from Wells Fargo, noted that today’s report showed a strong 0.3% increase in personal income was not followed by strong consumption in December as personal spending was flat.
Key Quotes:
“An increase of 0.3 percent in personal income ended a very strong year for income, overall. March 2015 was the weakest month for personal income last year with a print of 0.0 percent.”
“Although personal income continued to show strength, personal spending showed just the opposite. Personal spending was flat in December. However, the original 0.3 percent increase recorded in November was revised up to a 0.5 percent increase, which made a big difference for the quarter as a whole as we saw last Friday when the BEA released the GDP figures for the last quarter of the year, with personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increasing 2.2 percent during the quarter.”
“Higher income and weak consumption means that the saving rate rose from 5.3 percent of disposable personal income in November to 5.5 percent in December. Although having a higher saving rate is good for the economy, as consumers pay down debt.
“Today, the relatively strong increase in personal income seems to not be helping the consumption side of the economy. On the positive side, some lending numbers are showing that, although consumers continue to pay down debt on average, at least some consumers have started to borrow again, especially in the all-important credit card segment of credit.”
Key Quotes:
“An increase of 0.3 percent in personal income ended a very strong year for income, overall. March 2015 was the weakest month for personal income last year with a print of 0.0 percent.”
“Although personal income continued to show strength, personal spending showed just the opposite. Personal spending was flat in December. However, the original 0.3 percent increase recorded in November was revised up to a 0.5 percent increase, which made a big difference for the quarter as a whole as we saw last Friday when the BEA released the GDP figures for the last quarter of the year, with personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increasing 2.2 percent during the quarter.”
“Higher income and weak consumption means that the saving rate rose from 5.3 percent of disposable personal income in November to 5.5 percent in December. Although having a higher saving rate is good for the economy, as consumers pay down debt.
“Today, the relatively strong increase in personal income seems to not be helping the consumption side of the economy. On the positive side, some lending numbers are showing that, although consumers continue to pay down debt on average, at least some consumers have started to borrow again, especially in the all-important credit card segment of credit.”