WASHINGTON — Personal income rose $15 billion or 0.1% in August, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The increase followed a revised 0.1% gain the previous month, originally reported as a 0.3% increase. The August advance came in just under the median 0.2% gain estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Personal spending climbed $57.2 billion, or 0.5%, in August. That increase, the largest since February's 0.8% jump, followed an unrevised 0.4% uptick the previous month and matched the economists' prediction.
Disposable personal income increased $15.4 billion, or 0.1% in August, following a gain of 0.1% in July. Personal spending rose 1.5% above August 2011.
Real disposable income, which is adjusted to remove price changes, fell 0.3% after gaining 0.1% in July. The core PCE, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1% after rising that same amount in July.
