WASHINGTON – Personal income was up 0.2% in March, while nominal PCE was flat, and the core PCE price index fell 0.1%, data released by the Commerce Department Monday morning showed.
The monthly decline was the first for core prices since September 2001. The core price index's 1.6% year/year rise was down from 1.8% in February and the lowest since July.
The overall PCE price index was down 0.2% in March, as energy prices fell 3.4%. The year/year rate for overall prices fell to 1.8% from 2.1% in February.
The current dollar PCE remained unchanged for the second straight month. Spending on durable goods fell by 1.4% in the month, while nondurable goods spending fell 0.3% and services spending was up 0.4%.
Real PCE grew 0.3% in March, with real spending on durable goods down 0.7%. Nondurables spending grew 0.3% and services spending grew 0.4%.
Wages and salaries rose 0.1% in the month, while the remaining income categories were generally higher.
Disposable personal income saw a 0.2% rise in the month, while real disposable income was higher at 0.5%.
