In December 2019, real disposable income was $15,107 billion, which was lower than two of the last three months. This is an unusual occurence in real disposable income. The month-over-month rate of growth was 2.0%, which was the slowest rate of growth since January 2017 and a substantially lower rate of growth than most of the last three years.

The annual rate of growth decelerated to 3.0%, which was its slowest rate of growth since December 2017. It was also down from its peak rate of growth of 4.0% in December 2018. Based on the one-month and three-month rates of change, the annual rate of growth will continue to decelerate in early 2020.

Keep in mind that changes in real disposable income typically lead capital equipment consumption by almost 24 months.