The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis today released data on personal income and outlays for April 2011.Personal income increased 0.4 percent in April, consistent with private-sector expectations. Wages and salaries, the largest component of income, rose a solid 0.4 percent, supported by improvements in the labor market.Real consumer spending rose 0.1 percent in April and is up 1.0 percent at an annual rate above its first-quarter average.

“Today’s data show that incomes are rising primarily because businesses continue to hire more workers,” U.S. Commerce Department Acting Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank said. “Even with increased spending on gas, the tax cuts that President Obama enacted in 2010 are supporting consumer spending on a wide variety of goods and services, helping to boost our economic outlook.”