by Calculated Risk on 9/29/2023 08:30:00 AM

The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for August:

Personal income increased $87.6 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in August, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $46.6 billion (0.2 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $83.6 billion (0.4 percent).

The PCE price index increased 0.4 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.1 percent. Real DPI decreased 0.2 percent in August and real PCE increased 0.1 percent; goods decreased 0.2 percent and services increased 0.2 percent.
emphasis added

The August PCE price index increased 3.5 percent year-over-year (YoY), up from 3.4 percent YoY in July, and down from the recent peak of 7.1 percent in June 2022.

The PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 3.9 percent YoY, down from 4.3 percent in July, and down from the recent peak of 5.6 percent in February 2022.

The following graph shows real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) through August 2023 (2012 dollars). Note that the y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the change.

Click on graph for larger image.

The dashed red lines are the quarterly levels for real PCE.

Personal income was slightly below expectations, and PCE was at expectations.

Inflation was below expectations.

Using the two-month method to estimate Q3 real PCE growth, real PCE was increasing at a 4.0% annual rate in Q3 2023. (Using the mid-month method, real PCE was increasing at 3.9%).  This suggests strong PCE growth in Q3.