US personal income increased $44.5 billion, or 0.4 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $45.9 billion, or 0.4 percent, in December, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The savings rate rose to 4.8 per cent.

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $22.6 billion, or 0.2 percent.  In November, personal income increased $61.1 billion, or 0.5 percent, DPI increased $60.7 billion, or 0.5 percent, and PCE increased $69.1 billion, or 0.7 percent, based on revised estimates.

Real disposable income increased 0.3 percent in December, the same increase as in November.  Real PCE increased 0.1 percent in December, compared with an increase of 0.4 percent in November.

Real consumer spending, spending adjusted for price changes, increased 0.1 percent in December, after increasing 0.4 percent in November. Spending on goods turned down, while spending on services turned up.

PCE (personal consumption expenditures) prices rose 0.1 percent in December. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.1 percent in December.

Personal saving -- DPI less personal outlays -- was $534.2 billion in December, compared with $506.3 billion in November.  Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was 4.8 percent in December compared with 4.5 per cent in November and a 12-month average of 4.5 per cent.

The personal savings rate fell below zero in 2005.

SEE: Finfacts article, Jan 28, 2010: Eurozone savings rate falls to 15.8% in Q3 2009 compared with 4.5% in US and 2.0% in Japan