Investing April 28, 2003

Personal Income Rises 0.4% in March

April 28, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - American personal income rose by 0.4%, or $35.5 billion, in March.
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March’s increase in personal income was only slightly below the revised 0.2% gain seen in February (See  February Personal Income and Savings Up, Spending Flat ).   After-tax incomes rose 0.3% in March, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Personal savings slipped to $293 billion, compared with $300.3 billion in February.  Personal savings as a percentage of disposable personal income was 3.6% in March, compared with 3.7% in February. The recent release was broadly in line with expectations. A Dow Jones Newswires-CNBC survey of nine economists pegged personal-income growth at 0.3%.

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Wages

Private wage and salary disbursements increased $22.1 billion in March, compared with an increase of $8.4 billion in February. By industry:

  • manufacturing payrolls increased $0.1 billion
  • distributive industries’ payrolls increased $3.3 billion
  • goods-producing industries’ payrolls increased $3.6 billion
  • service industries’ payrolls increased $15.2 billion.

Government wage and salary disbursements were also up in March, recording an increase of $2.9 billion, compared with an increase of $6.4 billion in February.

The BEA says April’s figures will be released on May 30, 2003.  A full release of March data can be found at http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/pi0303.htm .

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