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The personal income ol' Americans rose a scant 0.4 percent in August, as recession-related factory layoffs cut deeply into workersÛª payrolls, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.</br></br>August's increase was the smallest since January, a Commerce Department official said. It was far from enough to keep up with the persistent impact of inflation, which has been rising at about one percent a month.</br></br>A Commerce Department spokesman. who asked not to be named, said August's personal income figures provide clear proof of the developing recession.</br></br>The Commerce Department said total personal incomeÛÓincluding factory wages, farm income, rents, interest and dividendsÛÓrose $8.4 billion last monthÛÓfrom $1,929.7 billion to $1.938.1 billion.</br></br>increased by S24.5 billion, the Commerce Department said, but even that relatively large increase was deceptive. since it was due largely to annual cost-of-living adjustments in Social Security payments.