Gov't sustaining personal incomes

Personal income for February '09 from just released report:

Change from Jan '09
(all figures in billions $)

Personal income: -$29
Private wages and salaries: -$29.9
Gov't transfer payments: $16
Personal taxes paid: -$18

Private wages and salaries dropped nearly $30 billion as layoffs, job cuts, salary cuts, etc continued to impact.

Government transfer payments (social security, unemployment insurance, health insurance benefits, disability, other) increased by $16 billion.

Personal taxes paid fell by $18 billion.

In other words, while total personal income dropped $29 billion from January to February, without the government's effect, personal income would have fallen by $63 billion!

Personal saving was at $450 billion from $478 billion the month before. Again, without government, saving would have dropped to $416 billion.