Personal income and spending rise more quickly than expected in October
Americans continued splashing out briskly last month with price gains continuing to accelerate alongside.
According to the Department of Commerce, personal incomes increased by 0.5% month-on-month, beating economists' forecasts for a rise of 0.3%.
Personal consumption expenditures meanwhile jumped by 1.3% versus September (consensus: 0.9%).
Adjusted for inflation on the other hand, incomes were 0.3% lower while spending was up by a more restrained 0.7%.
The annual rate of increase in the PCE price index rose from 4.4% in September to 5.0% for October (consensus: 5.1%) and from 3.7% to 4.1% at the core level (consensus: 4.1%).
In parallel, the personal saving rate, which is calculated as a percentage of disposable personal incomes, or after tax income, dropped from 8.2% to 7.3%.
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