Personal Income Cooled in January

January’s drop is the first monthly decline since 2015

Sarah Chaney

Updated March 1, 2019 2:38 p.m. ET

Income softened in January, driven by a sharp dive in dividend payouts that reverted an outsize jump in December income.

Personal income, reflecting Americans’ pretax earnings from wages, salaries and investments, fell 0.1% in January, payback after a much-larger-than-expected 1.0% rise in December, Commerce Department figures released Friday show. January’s drop is the first monthly decline since 2015.

Plunging...