Personal consumption expenditures improved 0.2% (4.6% y/y) during May following a 0.5% April increase, revised from 0.6%. It was the weakest rise since a slight decline in February. A 0.4% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.

Real personal spending eased slightly (+2.3% y/y) after a 0.3% gain. In constant dollars, durable goods spending improved 0.3% (6.1% y/y) after a 0.2% fall. A 0.5% decline in purchases of motor vehicles & parts was the second consecutive monthly shortfall. It was countered by a 1.0% rise (6.9% y/y) in spending on recreational goods & vehicles which followed a 0.3% increase. Outlays on home furnishings & appliances rose 0.2% (7.0% y/y) after easing 0.1%. Real outlays on nondurable goods rose 0.2% (2.7% y/y) after a 0.3% gain. Clothing & footwear purchases strengthened 0.8% (1.7% y/y) after a 0.3% rise while gasoline & oil buying eased 0.1% (-0.2% y/y) following a 0.8% rise. Spending on food & beverages improved 0.3% (3.4% y/y) following a 0.1% dip. Services spending declined 0.2% (+1.5% y/y) after a 0.3% rise. Spending on recreation services declined 1.0% (+0.5% y/y) after a 0.7% gain. Housing & utilities outlays backpedaled 0.8% (+0.8% y/y) and reversed the prior month's increase. Health care outlays improved 0.2% (2.1% y/y) following three straight months of no change or modest decline. Outlays at restaurants & hotels rose 0.2% (2.0% y/y).

Personal income rose an expected 0.4% in May (4.0% y/y) following a 0.2% gain, revised from 0.3%. Wages & salaries improved 0.3% (4.9% y/y) for the second straight month. Proprietors income increased 0.5% (3.8% y/y) after a 0.1% easing and rental incomes also improved 0.5% (4.4% y/y) following a 0.4% gain. Dividend payments surged 1.5% (0.9% y/y) after a 0.2% dip while interest income gained 0.1% (4.2% y/y) for a second straight month. Transfer receipts increased 0.2% (3.7% y/y) following two months of 0.5% increase. Social security payments improved 0.2% (5.1% y/y) after a 0.1% rise. Medicare payments rose 0.6% (3.5% y/y) following a 0.5% increase and Medicaid payments strengthened 0.8% (6.6% y/y) following a 1.2% rise. Unemployment insurance payments declined 4.2% (-11.3% y/y) while veterans benefits fell 3.1% (+6.0% y/y).

Disposable income increased 0.4% (4.0% y/y) following a 0.3% gain, revised from 0.4%. Real disposable income increased 0.2% (1.7% y/y) after a 0.1% rise.

The strength in income, accompanied by a lesser gain in spending, returned the personal savings rate to 3.2% after its April decline. The level of personal savings declined 10.9% y/y.

The chain type price index increased 0.2% (2.3% y/y) for a second straight month. The index excluding food & energy also rose 0.2% (2.0% y/y) for the sixth straight month. Energy prices strengthened 0.9% (12.8% y/y) after a 1.5% increase but food prices fell 0.2% (+0.3% y/y) following a 0.3% gain.

The personal income & consumption figures are available in Haver's USECON database with detail in the USNA database. The Action Economics figure is in the AS1REPNA database.

Tracking and Stress-Testing U.S. Household Leverage from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is available here.