·
Personal income rose a moderate 0.3% last month following the unrevised
0.6% spurt in October. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% rise.
· The gain in wages & salaries eased to 0.2% (+4.6% y/y) after the 0.6% surge in October. Factory sector wages eked out a 0.1% (1.1% y/y) gain after falling 0.1% the prior month.
· Personal disposable income rose 0.3% (4.9% y/y), half the gain in October. Disposable income growth adjusted for inflation was stable m/m at 0.2% (2.2% y/y).
· Personal consumption eased as well, growing 0.2%, one quarter the rise in October. A 2.4% decline in durable goods spending reflected a 3.4% m/m drop in total sales of light motor vehicles. Spending on nondurables also eased, up 0.4% after a 1.6% spike in October. However, services spending picked up and grew 0.6% (5.6% y/y), up from the 0.4%-0.5% range of the prior three months.
· The PCE chain price index rose just 0.1%, reflecting the recent decline in gasoline prices. Less food & energy prices rose 0.1% (1.5% y/y), the average for the last eight months.
· "Open Mouth Operations: A Swiss Case Study" of a central bank's impact on the slope of the yield curve from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis can be found here.