UPDATE - Americans' personal income growth, spending both gain pace in July

UPDATES WITH MORE FIGURES

By Ovunc Kutlu

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

Personal income climbed $75.1 billion, or 0.3%, at a monthly rate in July, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The figure came in higher than market estimates of 0.2% and gained its pace from a 0.2% monthly increase seen in June.

"The increase in current-dollar personal income in July primarily reflected an increase in compensation," the agency said in a statement.

Disposable personal income, which is personal income minus personal current taxes, rose $54.8 billion in July, or 0.3%, from the previous month when it was up 0.2%.

Personal spending, meanwhile, also referred to as personal consumption expenditures (PCE), increased $103.8 billion, or 0.5%, in July from the month before.

That figure came in line with the market expectations, while it also showed an acceleration from a 0.3% monthly gain in June.

"The $103.8 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in July reflected an increase of $59.3 billion in spending for services and $44.5 billion in spending for goods," said the agency.

Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was housing and utilities, it added.

"Within goods, the largest contributors to the increase were motor vehicles and parts as well as food and beverages," said the agency.

Personal income figure for June, meanwhile, was revised down to $47.8 billion from $50.4 billion for an increase of 0.2%.

Disposable personal income for June also saw a downward revision to $30.9 billion from $37.7 billion, or to a gain of 0.1% from an increase of 0.2%.

Personal consumption expenditures for June, on the other hand, was revised upward to $63.1 billion from $57.6 billion for a rise of 0.3%.

Personal outlays increased $103.3 billion in July, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The figure reflects the sum of personal consumption expenditures, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments.

Total personal savings, meanwhile, came in at $598.8 billion last month.

The personal saving rate, which shows personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, significantly fell to 2.9% in July from 3.4% in June.