Real disposable personal income, which is income after taxes and inflation, fell 0.4 percent in March compared with February. This was the seventh time in the last eight months that disposable personal income in the U.S. fell from the previous month. It rose in February by 0.15 percent.
In nominal terms, disposable personal income rose 0.5 percent but consumer prices rose 0.9 percent, swamping the income gain.
Consumer spending rose 1.1 percent before adjusting for inflation. After inflation, however, expenditures were up just 0.2 percent.
On a year-over-year basis, income plunged 19.9 percent from the stimulus check inflated figure for March 2022. A year ago, income jumped 22.2 percent thanks to the Biden administration’s fiscal expansion. That excess income helped set off the explosion of inflation that currently grips the U.S. economy.