Personal income increased by 0.4 percent in January 2018 and unemployment claims decreased to their lowest levels in more than 48 years in February according to data released yesterday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Personal income increased by 0.4 percent for the second month straight and disposable personal income increased at an even faster rate in January – 0.9 percent.

More from BEA on the increase in personal income:

“Personal income increased 0.4 percent in January, the same increase as in December. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.5 percent in January after increasing 0.4 percent in December.

“Current-dollar disposable personal income (DPI), after-tax income, increased 0.9 percent in January after increasing 0.4 percent in December.”

During the week ending February 24th, new unemployment claims decreased to 210,000 – the lowest level since December 6, 1969.

More from BLS on the decrease in new unemployment claims:

“In the week ending February 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 210,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since December 6, 1969, when it was 202,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 222,000 to 220,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,500, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 27, 1969, when it was 219,750. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 226,000 to 225,500.”