Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons (source)
Personal consumption expenditures prices rose 3.4 percent in August from a year earlier, and consumer spending jumped 0.9 percent from July, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its Personal Income and Outlays release on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, increased 0.3 percent from the prior month. Excluding food and energy, the core PCE price index rose 0.2 percent from July and 3.0 percent from August 2025, BEA said. The release was embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
Income, spending and saving
BEA put the August rise in personal income at $66.6 billion, equal to 0.2 percent month to month. After taxes, disposable personal income was up $68.6 billion (0.3 percent). Household spending, measured as personal consumption expenditures, climbed $190.8 billion (0.9 percent).
Of that spending gain, $114.1 billion was on goods and $76.7 billion was on services, the agency said. Inflation-adjusted real PCE was higher by $92.8 billion, or 0.6 percent.
Outlays (spending, interest payments and transfer payments) rose $190.7 billion. Saving stood at $990.2 billion, or 4.1 percent of disposable income, BEA said.
Most of the income gain came from pay and from government social benefits. Private wages and salaries drove compensation, BEA said, drawing on Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data. Within benefits, Medicare and Social Security led, based on Treasury and federal budget figures.
Month-to-month comparison
BEA's month-to-month table showed nominal personal income rising 0.2 percent in August, after 0.3 percent in July. Nominal disposable income rose 0.3 percent, after 0.4 percent. Real disposable income was flat in August after a 0.3 percent July gain.
Nominal PCE accelerated to a 0.9 percent monthly gain from 0.1 percent in July. Real PCE rose 0.6 percent, also after 0.1 percent. Headline PCE prices were up 0.3 percent month to month (after 0.1 percent); core prices rose 0.2 percent (after 0.1 percent).
Annual update
Wednesday's release also incorporated the annual update of the National Economic Accounts. Revisions to personal income and outlays estimates begin with January 2021, BEA said. Pay figures for January through March 2026 now fold in first-quarter wages from BLS QCEW payroll records. April–July 2026 pay numbers use updated monthly BLS CES inputs. Medicaid totals were revised with newer Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data.
What's next
BEA scheduled the next Personal Income and Outlays release — covering September 2026 — for Oct. 29, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The agency did not issue a policy recommendation; PCE figures feed into Federal Reserve assessments of inflation and demand but are published as statistical estimates only.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Personal Income and Outlays, August 2026 (2026-09-30)
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