Personal income, new home sales drop

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Monday, Feb. 28, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Personal incomes, which had been bolstered by a large stock dividend payment in December plunged 2.3 percent in January, the sharpest decline in more than a decade, the government reported today.

The Commerce Department said the sharp January drop in incomes followed a record 3.7 percent jump in incomes in December with both months heavily influenced by a $3 per share dividend payment that computer software giant Microsoft made on Dec. 2.

Meanwhile, the number of new single-family homes sold in January fell 9.2 percent, the agency said in a second report.

The worse-than-expected performance pushed new home sales down to 1.11 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in January compared with a revised December rate of 1.22 million units.

Personal spending was unchanged in January after having risen by 0.8 percent in December.