PCE price index rose 0.5% in September and 3.6% from a year earlier, BEA says

The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.5% in September from August, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its monthly report on personal income and outlays, released at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Excluding food and energy, the index rose 0.3%.¹

From September 2025, the PCE price index was up 3.6%, and the measure excluding food and energy was up 3.1%, according to the release.¹ In August, the 12-month increases were 3.4% overall and 3.0% excluding food and energy, BEA's historical comparisons table shows. The table lists April 2026 as the last month with the same 3.6% 12-month rise for the overall index.²

In August, the overall index and the index excluding food and energy had each risen 0.3% from July.¹

Income

Personal income rose $54.5 billion, or 0.2% at a monthly rate, in September, BEA said. Disposable personal income, which is personal income minus personal current taxes, rose $52.7 billion, or 0.2%. Both had risen 0.3% in August.¹

BEA said the September income gain mainly reflected increases in compensation and in government social benefits. Within compensation, private wages and salaries led the increase, the agency said, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll data. Medicare led the rise in social benefits.¹

Spending

Personal consumption expenditures, or consumer spending in current dollars, rose $113.1 billion, or 0.5%, after a 0.9% rise in August. Spending on goods rose $35.1 billion and spending on services rose $78.1 billion.¹

BEA's breakdown of the September change, in billions of dollars at seasonally adjusted annual rates, showed these largest moves:¹

• Gasoline and other energy goods: up 45.7.
• Transportation services: up 18.4.
• Housing and utilities: up 17.8.
• Food services and accommodations: up 15.5.
• Health care: up 13.0.
• Recreation services: down 3.2.
• Motor vehicles and parts: down 14.0.

Personal outlays, which add personal interest payments and personal current transfer payments to consumer spending, rose $113.0 billion.¹

Inflation-adjusted figures

Adjusted for prices, consumer spending rose $2.6 billion, less than 0.1% at a monthly rate, BEA said; its percent-change table rounds the change to 0.0%. Real spending had risen 0.5% in August.¹ Real disposable personal income fell 0.3%, after no change in August.¹ In chained dollars, real disposable income fell $50.1 billion, the historical comparisons table shows.²

Saving

Personal saving was $911.1 billion in September, and the saving rate, saving as a share of disposable income, was 3.8%.¹ The rate was 4.0% in August, according to BEA's comparisons table, which lists October 2022, at 3.6%, as the last month with a lower rate.²

Revisions and next release

BEA said it updated estimates for July and August to reflect revised Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll data, and that a revision to personal interest income was led by monetary interest, based on new data from the U.S. Bureau of the Fiscal Service.¹

The October report is scheduled for Nov. 25, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. EST, the release says.¹

What the records do not show

• The release and its comparisons table do not give the dollar size of the July and August revisions.¹²
• BEA does not attribute the price changes to any cause in the release.¹
• The September figures are estimates that BEA says will be superseded with its next release.¹