Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29th and thus reduced three days worth of income & outlays along the Eastern Seaboard. Personal income was unchanged last month (3.1% y/y) following an unrevised 0.4% September increase. A 0.2% gain was expected. Wages & salaries fell 0.2% (+2.5% y/y) but that decline was offset by a 1.3% (-1.8% y/y) jump in interest income and a 0.6% (7.8% y/y) gain in dividend income. Transfer payments fell 0.3% (+3.1% y/y). After tax income also was unchanged (3.0% y/y). In constant dollars, however, disposable income slipped 0.1% (+1.2% y/y). 

The dollar value of personal consumption expenditures fell 0.2% (+3.1% y/y) after an unrevised 0.8% September jump. A 0.1% increase had been expected. Adjusted for price inflation, spending fell 0.3% (+1.3% y/y). Much of that decline reflected a 4.4% (3.1% y/y) decline in spending of motor vehicles reversing the September jump. Spending of home furnishings also fell 0.8% (+4.2% y/y) and reversed the earlier rise while clothing spending fell 1.2% (+1.0% y/y) but that mostly negated three months of increase. Real services spending slipped 0.1% (+1.0% y/y).

The unchanged income level set against the decline in spending raised the personal savings rate minimally to 3.4%, still nearly its lowest since November of last year.

The PCE chain price index ticked up 0.1% (1.7% y/y). The increase reflected 0.2% increases in both services (2.0% y/y) and nondurables (2.8% y/y) prices. The latter gain also reflected a 0.4% (+8.7% y/y) drop in gasoline prices. Durable goods prices fell another 0.2% (-1.8% y/y). Less food and energy, the PCE chain price index again ticked up 0.1% (1.6% y/y).

 The personal income & consumption figures are available in Haver's USECON and USNA databases. The consensus expectations figures are in the AS1REPNA database.