WASHINGTON - Personal income rose 0.4%, while personal spending increased 0.2% in December, the smallest increase since September, the Commerce Department reported today.
Core PCE, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 1.5% from a year ago following an unrevised 1.4% increase in November.
Total consumption in November increased by an upwardly-revised 0.7% from 0.5% initially reported.
Personal income was revised higher to a 0.5% rise from the initially reported 0.4% gain in November.
For all of 2009, personal income fell 1.4%, the largest annual decline since 1938. Personal consumption decreased 0.4% for the year, also the largest decline since 1938. The $502.7 billion personal savings level for 2009 was the largest on record.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected consumption to increase 0.1% and for incomes to increase 0.2% for the month, according to the median estimate.
The personal savings level, the difference between disposable personal incomes and spending, for December rose to $534.2 billion, the largest amount since $538.6 billion in June.
Consumption expenditures for nondurable goods increased 6.5% in December and 3.7% in November.
