U.S. personal income growth picked up steam last month, while personal spending slowed and a key inflation indicator eased slightly, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today.

Personal income grew in September at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.5%, after increasing a revised 0.4% in August, Commerce said. August income growth was previously reported at 0.3%. Meanwhile, personal consumption grew 0.1% in September, less than the revised 0.2% increase the month before. August spending growth had previously been reported at 0.1%.

The median forecast of economists was for a 0.4% increase in personal income in September, while consumer spending was expected to grow 0.2%.

The core price index for personal consumption expenditures — or PCE — excluding food and energy, increased by 0.2% in September, slower than August’s revised 0.3% growth, previously reported as a 0.2% increase. The September core rate matched Wall Street expectations. Overall PCE inflation, including food and energy, fell 0.3% in September after growing 0.3% in August.

Compared with a year earlier, the core PCE price index grew 2.4% last month. September’s year-over-year rate was slightly less than the 2.5% pace in August. Core PCE is an important inflation indicator for the central bank.

Today’s report showed that within total income figures, wages and salaries grew 0.5% in September, more than twice the 0.2% rate of growth the previous month. Income from interest on debt holdings and equity dividends increased 0.5% in September for the second straight month.

After-tax income, also known as disposable personal income, expanded 0.5% in September, matching the pace of the previous month.

Within the spending data, spending on durable goods — those designed to last three years or longer — grew 1.6% in September, after a 1.4% decline in August. Non-durable goods spending fell 1.2% last month after a 0.2% gain the previous month. September spending on services increased 0.5% for the third straight month.

Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was negative 0.2% last month, marking the 18th straight month that this measure of savings has been in the red.