US consumer spending fell in March after two months of straight increases as shrinking payrolls and falling asset prices squeezed incomes, a government report showed today.
The Commerce Department said spending fell 0.2 per cent after a revised 0.4 per cent increase in February, previously reported as a 0.2 per cent rise.
Personal income slipped 0.3 percent after declining by an unrevised 0.2 per cent in February. Personal income has declined in five of the last six months.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast spending to ease by 0.1 per cent and incomes to fall 0.2 per cent.
Savings increased to an annual rate of $455.3 billion. The savings rate climbed to 4.2 per cent in March from 4 per cent the previous month.
Inflation was moderate in March, with the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, steady at 1.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis for the second month in a row.
Reuters