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Friday, December 21, 2007

PCE November

BEA released its November personal income and outlays report this morning. The headline looks great, but the details are less appetizing.

Nominal outlays rose 1.1% in November. In chained 2000 dollars, that's .5%. Nominal personal income rose .2 and .3 in October and November, but in chained 2000 dollars that turns into -.2 and -.3 respectively.

Nonfarm proprietor's income was revised up for October and rose in November:
Proprietors' income increased $7.2 billion in November, compared with an increase of $3.7
billion in October. Farm proprietors' income increased $0.5 billion, compared with an increase of
$0.6 billion. Nonfarm proprietors' income increased $6.7 billion, compared with an increase of $3.1 billion.
There were major second quarter downward revisions in personal income recently as a result of changes in wage and job estimates, so one hardly knows what to think. Except, of course, what we already knew - consumers are losing pace against inflation quite rapidly.

Corporate profits were already falling in the third quarter, and the growth in private inventories saved gross private domestic investment from being negative. Now a lot depends on how quickly those inventories are drawn down.


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