EmailThe personal income and spending data met the relatively weak expectations. The lackluster employment report had no bearing on personal income growth, which remained at 0.2% for the second consecutive month in May. The Briefing.com consensus expected income to increase 0.1%.
Personal spending growth was flat in May after increasing a downwardly revised 0.1% (from 0.3%) in April. That was in-line with the poor retail sales data. The consensus expected spending to increase 0.1%. A decline in headline inflation levels, however, pushed real spending up 0.1% for the second consecutive month. Goods spending fell 0.7% as demand for both durable goods (-0.4%) and nondurable goods (-0.8%) contracted. Services spending increased 0.3% in May, down from 0.4% growth in April. The personal savings rate ticked up from 3.7% to 3.9%, which is the first monthly increase since December 2011.
