Spending and incomes up slightly

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Consumer incomes matched a 0.1 percent rise in consumer spending in November, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday.

Incomes rose by $8.5 billion while spending rose by $13.1 billion. Disposable incomes fell by $5 billion or less than 0.1 percent, the agency said.

Core spending, a figure that excludes the more volatile categories of energy and food, rose 1.7 percent on an annual basis, in line with expectations.

Private wages and salaries fell by $7.1 billion after rising $33.6 billion in October. Payrolls at goods-producing firms fell by $6.7 billion in the month, while compensation at service industry jobs fell by $300 million after rising by $27.3 million in October.

With incomes rising at the same marginal pace as spending, the rate of savings slipped only slightly, down from 3.6 percent in October to 3.5 percent in November.

Consumer saving in November reached $400.9 billion after hitting $419.1 billion in October, the agency said.