Personal Income and Outlays, May 2026

Personal income rose $181.6 billion, or 0.7 percent, in May, according to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, driven by increases in farm proprietors’ income and compensation [1]. Disposable personal income — income after taxes — climbed $164.9 billion, also a 0.7 percent monthly gain, while personal consumption expenditures increased $156.1 billion [1]. The personal saving rate stood at 3.0 percent, with saving totaling $704.2 billion [1]. The BEA attributed the farm-income boost to a second round of Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payments issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the American Relief Act of 2025 [1]. The PCE price index, a broad inflation gauge, rose 0.4 percent from April and was up 4.1 percent from a year earlier [1]. Excluding food and energy, the index increased 0.3 percent on the month and 3.4 percent year-over-year [1]. The PCE index is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation and is derived from the largest component of gross domestic product [3]. It has been tracked since January 1959 and has historically recorded softer inflation readings than the Consumer Price Index [3]. Real PCE, which strips out price changes, increased 0.3 percent in May, with spending on services rising $94.3 billion and goods spending up $61.8 billion [1]. The BEA also revised personal income estimates for January through April, incorporating updated employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, revised Social Security payment data, and updated Medicaid benefit information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [1]. Medicaid, which provided health coverage to 85 million low-income and disabled people as of 2022, is the largest source of funding for medical services for low-income Americans [7]. The program’s total annual cost reached $870 billion in 2023 [7]. Social Security and Medicare, along with other federal transfer programs, flow directly into the personal income figures the BEA reports each month. The next personal income and outlays release is scheduled for July 30, 2026 [1].