Consumer Spending In July Up 0.8 Percent
August 29, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (UPI) — Consumer spending rose 0.8 percent in July after falling 0.1 percent in June, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said Monday.
Consumer spending is often cited as representing 70 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, making the figure a critical economic indicator.
June’s decline had been the first since June 2010.
Spending rose by $88.4 billion, or 0.8 percent, the biggest jump since February and higher than the 0.5 percent bump economists had expected.
Personal income rose by 0.3 percent or by $42.4 billion after rising 0.2 percent in June.
Disposable income also rose by 0.3 percent — by $32.5 billion — the Commerce Department said.
In July, core prices, which exclude energy and food prices, rose 0.2 percent from June and 1.6 percent from July 2010, putting inflation below the Federal Reserve’s target of slightly under 2 percent.
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