US Personal Income Rose 0.2% in September, Spending Up 0.5%
Americans spent more than they earned in September, pushing the personal saving rate down to 3.8%, BEA data show.
Personal income in the United States climbed $54.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, in September, while consumer spending outpaced that gain by a wide margin, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. Personal consumption expenditures surged $113.1 billion, a 0.5 percent monthly increase, underscoring the divergence between income growth and household outlays.
Disposable personal income — what remains after personal current taxes — rose $52.7 billion, also a 0.2 percent gain. Despite that increase, the pace of spending far exceeded after-tax income growth, a pattern that put downward pressure on household savings.
Read more US Economy Grew at 3.4% Rate in Third Quarter of 2026 →
Personal outlays, a broader measure that combines consumer spending with personal interest payments and current transfer payments, rose $113.0 billion for the month. The figures suggest households continued to draw on resources beyond take-home pay to fund expenditures.
The personal saving rate held at 3.8 percent of disposable personal income in September, with total personal saving reaching $911.1 billion. A saving rate at that level reflects consumers channeling a relatively modest share of after-tax earnings into reserves, a dynamic that analysts often watch as a signal of household financial resilience and future spending capacity.
Continue reading at U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
