U.S. personal incomes grew by slightly less than expected in May, according to figures released Friday by the Commerce Department.
The report said personal income increased by $25.4 billion or 0.2 percent in May, with disposable income increasing by the same 0.2 percent margin.
Most economists had expected to see personal income rise slightly faster, forecasting a 0.3 percent increase, though the figures released for May matched the 0.2 percent increase in income recorded for April.
Consumer spending, known formally as personal consumption expenditures, decreased by $4.7 billion for the month, although that represents a decrease of less than 0.1 percent.
While consumer spending held relatively level from April to May, new revisions to April consumer spending figures showed a drop to a 0.1 percent increase from the 0.3 percent increase initially reported.
The price index for personal consumption expenditures, a measure of potential inflation, fell 0.2 percent in May after increasing only slightly in April.
The "core" PCE price index, which excludes the volatile food and energy sectors, increased 0.1 percent in May, the same increase as reported in April.
Most economists had predicted a somewhat smaller 0.1 percent decrease in overall consumer prices and a somewhat larger 0.2 percent increase by the core PCE index.
Personal savings, both in raw dollar figures and as a percentage of disposable income reached their highest levels since January, with personal savings recorded at $464.3 billion and the savings rate at 3.9 percent, up from the 3.7 percent in April.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.