Incomes up 0.4% in September

Americans were making more and spending less in the month of September, according to two reports from the Department of Commerce. Personal incomes rose 0.4% in September compared to the previous month. Personal income increased 0.4% in August, revised from a previously estimated 0.3% increase. Consumer spending increased 0.3% in September, compared to the month before. Consumer spending had increased by 0.5% in August. The index for personal consumption expenditures rose 0.2% in September compared to the prior month. The index had been unchanged in August. The core PCE price index—which excludes food and energy—rose 0.2% after inching up 0.1% in August. The PCE price index increased 2.4% in September, up from a year-to-year increase of 1.8% in August. The PCE price index excluding food and energy, year-to-year, climbed 1.8% in September. The index also rose by the same amount in August. In other economic news, The Institute for Supply Management's factory index fell to 50.9 in October, the lowest in seven months, down from a reading of 52 in September. Readings above 50 in the Tempe, Ariz.-based ISM's index signal an economic expansion. The ISM's new orders and production indexes cooled off, while a measure of prices paid by manufacturers and export prices increased.