- Personal Income for April rose .2% versus estimates of a .1% gain and an upwardly revised .4% increase in March.
- Personal Spending for April rose .2% versus estimates of a .2% rise and a .4% gain in March.
- The PCE Core for April rose .1% versus estimates of a .1% gain and a .2% rise in March.
- The Chicago Purchasing Manager Index for May rose to 49.1 versus estimates of 48.5 and a reading of 48.3 in April.
- The final reading for the
BOTTOM LINE: Personal income for April rose more than economists expected as spending met estimates and a gauge of inflation decelerated, Bloomberg reported. The PCE Core, the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, rose 2.1% year-over-year, down from 2.5% during February of last year and below the 20-year average of 2.4%. Spending on services, which account for almost 60% of all outlays, increased .1% for the second straight month. The Treasury said last week that it had sent $4.9 billion in tax rebates in the fourth week of the program, bringing the total distributed so far to $45.7 billion. More than $110 billion will eventually be sent. I expect spending and income to accelerate modestly into year-end and inflation to decelerate meaningfully from current levels.
A measure of