Americans' personal income growth, spending slow down in June from previous month

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Americans' personal income growth and personal spending both slowed down in June from the previous month, according to official figures released Friday.

Personal income climbed $50.4 billion, or 0.2%, at a monthly rate in June, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The figure came in lower than market estimates of 0.4% and slowed its pace from a 0.4% monthly increase seen in May.

"The increase in current-dollar personal income in June primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts," the agency said in a statement.

Disposable personal income, which is personal income minus personal current taxes, rose $37.7 billion in June, or 0.2%, from the previous month when it was up 0.5%.

Personal spending, meanwhile, also referred to as personal consumption expenditures (PCE), increased $57.6 billion, or 0.3%, in June from the month before.

That figure also showed a slowdown from a 0.4% monthly gain in May, but came in line with the market expectations of a 0.3% gain.

"The $57.6 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in June reflected an increase of $53.1 billion in spending for services and an increase of $4.5 billion in spending for goods," said the agency.

Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were other services, led by international travel, and housing and utilities.