FXStreet (Mumbai) – The official data released on Monday in the US showed consumer spending unexpectedly stalled in April as rise in the income was used to push up the savings rate.
Consumer spending remained unchanged in April following an upwardly revised 0.5% gain in March. Consensus estimate called for spending to rise 0.2% in April.
Personal income climbed 0.4% in April, beating the estimate of 0.3%. Personal income had stalled in the previous month. Consequently, the savings rate was pushed higher to 5.6% from 5.2%.
Meanwhile, inflation as gauged by the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index was unchanged in April. The core PCE index that excludes food and energy, meanwhile, rose 0.1% in April, and it’s up 1.2% over the past year. The core PCE stood at 1.3% in March.
Overall, the report indicates the economy may take more time to recover as the biggest component of the economy – consumer spending is still anemic.
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)