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Strategies & Market Trends : Bob Brinker: Market Savant & Radio Host -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey D who wrote (8884)	12/24/1998 12:00:00 PM
From: Jeffrey D	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42834

To all, what better way to ring in the Holidays than to provide an article about how personal income for us in America surged in November. I hope all of you are participating in this increase. More importantly, I hope this post finds you and your families in good health. As Bob says, none of this means a thing unless we are healthy enough to enjoy it. Happy holidays everyone and have a healthy and successful new year!!! Jeff << Personal Income Surges in November -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' personal income surged 0.5 percent in November, the largest gain in nine months, and they managed to save a bit of it for the first time in three months. The increase in personal income, the most since February, followed respectable gains of 0.4 percent in October and 0.3 percent in September, the Commerce Department said today. Heading into the holiday shopping season, personal spending crept up just 0.1 percent in November. But that came on top of a robust 0.7 percent increase in October. Also, the Labor Department reported separately that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000 last week, the lowest level in a year and a half. The combination of a large income increase and a small spending gain meant Americans' personal savings rate -- savings as a percentage of after-tax income -- was 0.1 percent last month. In October, the savings rate was minus 0.2 percent -- the first negative number since the department began calculating the rate monthly in 1959. In September, it was zero. The savings figures aren't as bleak as they appear. They indicate Americans are spending some of the wealth they've accumulated in the stock market and cashing in part of their home equity as they refinance to take advantage of low mortgage rates. They can't continue raiding their wealth indefinitely -- especially if stock-market gains are more modest next year. But, for now, consumer spending is powering the U.S. economy at a brisk growth rate, even as it struggles to cope with diminished export sales to slumping economies in Asia, Russia and Latin America. Noting the signs of resilience, the Federal Reserve this week held short-term interest rates unchanged. It had cut rates three times this fall to help insulate the U.S. economy and Wall Street from foreign turmoil. The most important component of income -- wages and salaries -- rose 0.6 percent in November. Wages and salaries in manufacturing were flat, reflecting U.S. trade problems. But they rose 0.9 percent in services, which are less affected by international competition. Farm owners' income rose 10.9 percent, helped by an increase in federal subsidy payments intended to help farmers cope with declining commodity prices. Business owners' income also rose, as did transfer payments such as Social Security, rental income and dividends. Interest income fell. Two special factors held down spending. Auto buying returned to more normal levels after shooting higher in September and October as buyers made up for time lost during the summer's General Motors' strikes. Thus, spending on big-ticket durable goods fell 0.9 percent in November after increasing more than 2 percent in both October and September. Also, mild weather depressed electricity and natural-gas use and that helped hold services spending to a modest 0.2 percent rise. Spending on nondurable goods such as food, chemical products and paper rose 0.3 percent.