Personal income decreased $0.1 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $0.2 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, in September, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $47.2 billion, or 0.5 percent.

That looks like flat income and down spending to me.

Oh wait - we have to read past the first two sentences, right? 

Let's do that.

Private wage and salary disbursements decreased $11.2 billion in September, in contrast to an increase of $10.1 billion in August.  Goods-producing industries' payrolls decreased $7.8 billion, compared with a decrease of $6.3 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $1.5 billion, compared with a decrease of $4.1 billion.  Services-producing industries' payrolls decreased $3.4 billion, in contrast to an increase of $16.4 billion.

Wait a minute.  I thought that income was flat?  We have a decrease, a decrease, a decrease and a decrease.  How do we get to flat with those?

Supplements to wages and salaries increased $0.1 billion in September, compared with an increase of $2.0 billion in August.

Proprietors' income increased $0.7 billion in September, compared with an increase of $3.4 billion in August. Farm proprietors' income decreased $1.6 billion, compared with a decrease of $1.2 billion.  Nonfarm proprietors' income increased $2.3 billion, compared with an increase of $4.6 billion.

Rental income of persons increased $5.4 billion in September, compared with an increase of $5.2 billion in August. Personal income receipts on assets (personal interest income plus personal dividend income) decreased $13.8 billion, the same decrease as in August.  Personal current transfer receipts increased $17.3 billion in September, compared with an increase of $9.6 billion in August.

Ah.

Small business income was down compared to August, rental incomes were basically flat (compared to prior month), but income receipts on assets (dividends + interest on assets) decreased.  Those are bad comps too.

The big Kahuna was government handouts, which was up big m/o/m.  There's the entry that kept PCI and DPI from collapsing.

Real PCE -- PCE adjusted to remove price changes -- decreased 0.6 percent in September, in contrast to an increase of 1.0 percent in August.

Consumers are not spending.

All in all, another bad report.  Not a disaster, but certainly not the stuff of which "economic recovery" is made.

The evidence continues to pile up......