Personal Income Up 0.56% in March, PCE Up 3.50% from Last Year
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Expenditures Update for March. From February to March, headline personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index inflation was 0.66 percent. Core PCE price index inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, was 0.29 percent.
In the same period, spending increased while savings decreased. Real PCE increased by 0.24 percent, or $39.57 billion. Real PCE on all services increased by 0.10 percent, or $10.63 billion. Real PCE on all goods increased by 0.55 percent, or $31.34 billion, and the nominal personal savings rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.6 percent.
From March 2025 to March 2026, headline PCE price index inflation was 3.50 percent, which is higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent, and core PCE price index inflation was 3.20 percent.
Month-over-month, headline personal income increased by 0.56 percent, or $149.22 billion, while real disposable personal income per capita decreased by 0.07 percent, which means that after tax income rose less quickly than prices.
For the full Monthly Expenditures Update, visit: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/expenditures-update
Additionally, the Joint Economic Committee released its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Update of Q1 2026, Advance Estimate. Real GDP growth from 2025 Q4 to 2026 Q1 increased by 1.99 percent. Current-dollar GDP increased by 5.64 percent or $433.731 billion, to a level of $31.856 trillion, the current size of the U.S. economy.
For the full GDP Update, visit: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/gdp-update
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