U.S. Personal Income Rises 0.2% In February, Slightly More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Personal income in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.

The report said personal income rose by 0.2 percent in February after climbing by 0.5 percent in January. Economists had expected income to tick up by 0.1 percent.

Disposable personal income, or personal income less personal current taxes, also edged up by 0.2 percent in February after rising by 0.4 percent in the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in February, matching the downwardly revised uptick seen in January.

The slight increase in spending matched economist estimates, although spending in January was downwardly revised from the originally reported 0.5 percent growth.

Real spending, which is adjusted to remove price changes, rose by 0.2 percent in February after coming in unchanged in the previous month.

With income rising slightly faster than spending, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income inched up to 5.4 percent in February from 5.3 percent in January.

On the inflation front, the Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures price index dipped by 0.1 percent in February after inching up by 0.1 percent in January.

The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index subsequently slowed to 1.0 percent in February from 1.2 percent in January.

Core PCE prices, which exclude food and energy prices, ticked up by 0.1 percent in February after rising by 0.3 percent in January. Annual growth was unchanged at 1.7 percent.