Euro area households’ real income per person rose 0.1% from the previous quarter. Real consumption per person rose 0.3%, after being flat in the first quarter. The spending measure therefore picked up even though income, after allowing for changes in prices, barely increased.
Another figure helps explain how these movements can coexist. The household saving rate in the euro area fell by 0.2 percentage points from the preceding quarter. A lower rate means that a smaller share of disposable income was saved. It does not mean that the stock of savings fell: households can still add to savings in aggregate while saving a smaller fraction of their income.
For retailers, that distinction matters. Slower accumulation of savings can support higher real spending for a time, but it is a different source of demand from an increase in purchasing power. Future income figures will help assess whether the two move back into step. Neither average reveals the room for manoeuvre of any individual household.