Real Disposable Income Growth Remains Weak

(Negative) October real disposable income was $12,794 billion dollars (seasonally adjusted at an annual rate). This was an all-time high for real disposable income. In October, real disposable income grew 2.7 percent compared with one year ago (most of the last six months were revised up). The month-over-month rate of growth was below 3.0 percent in eight of the last nine months. The annual rate of growth has decelerated steadily since August 2015. In October, the annual rate of growth, now 2.9 percent, was the slowest since November 2014. Also, this was the fourth month in a row that the annual rate of growth was below 3.1 percent, which is the historical average.