US personal income, spending increase in January

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – Americans' personal income and spending increased in January, with the latter coming above market estimates, according to official figures released on Friday.

Personal income rose 0.6%, or $131.1 billion, in January from the previous month, showed data by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The figure came much lower than the market expectation of a 1% increase. Meanwhile, the figure for December was revised up from a 0.2% gain to a rise of 0.3%.

"The increase in current-dollar personal income in January was led by an increase in compensation (table 3), reflecting private wages and salaries in both services-producing industries and goods-producing industries," the agency said in a statement.

Personal spending showed even a higher increase, jumping 1.8%, or $312.5 billion, in January from the previous month.

The figure also came much higher than the market estimate of a 1.3% increase. Meanwhile, the figure for December was revised up from a 0.2% contraction to a decline of 0.1%.

The agency said there were increases of $162.2 billion in spending for goods and $150.2 billion in spending for services during the month of January.