Enlarge image
Consumer Spending in U.S. Increased 0.6% in September Tim Rue/Bloomberg
Workers load Nissan Motor Co. vehicles into a rail car at the Port of Los Angleles in Wilmington, California on Oct. 3, 2011.
Workers load Nissan Motor Co. vehicles into a rail car at the Port of Los Angleles in Wilmington, California on Oct. 3, 2011. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg
Enlarge image
Consumer Spending in U.S. Increased 0.6% in September Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg
Shoppers carry shopping bags at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York on Sept. 13, 2011.
Shoppers carry shopping bags at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York on Sept. 13, 2011. Photographer: Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg
Consumer spending in the U.S. accelerated in September, helping the world’s largest economy skirt a recession.
Purchases increased 0.6 percent, matching the median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after a 0.2 percent gain the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes rose less than projected, sending the savings rate down to the lowest level in almost four years.
A pickup in consumer spending helped propel the economy through the third quarter while policy makers from President Barack Obama to Federal Reserve officials moved to take additional action to spur growth and hiring. Without a pickup in wages, households may be unable to maintain gains in purchases.
“Income growth is slowing, consumer confidence is completely shot right now, and yet people are out there spending,” Aneta Markowska, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, said before the report. “The question is how long can this be sustained, and it’s another reason to be cautious when we get into the first quarter.”
