WASHINGTON — Personal income rose $69.4 billion or 0.5% in May following a revised 0.1% increase in April, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Personal income was originally reported as unchanged in April.
May personal spending climbed $29 billion or 0.3%, after falling a revised 0.3% the previous month. April's spending figure was originally reported as a 0.2% decrease.
The May income figures were stronger than the expectations of economists polled by Thomson Reuters, who had estimated personal income would rise 0.2%. The personal spending advance matched the economists' expectation of 0.3%.
Disposable personal income shot up $57 billion, or 0.5% in May, following a 0.1% uptick in April. Real disposable income, which is adjusted to remove price changes, rose 0.4% after rising 0.3% the previous month.
The core PCE, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1% after an unchanged reading in April.