The Commerce
Department announced on Friday that consumer spending in the U.S. rose 0.2 per
cent m-o-m in June, after
an upwardly revised 0.4 per cent m-o-m climb (from +0.2 per cent m-o-m) in May. Economists
had predicted a rise of 0.3 per cent m-o-m for June.
Meanwhile,
consumer income increased 0.2 per cent m-o-m in June, following a downwardly revised
0.4 per cent m-o-m jump (from +0.5 per cent m-o-m) in the previous month. This
represented the weakest monthly increase in consumer income in eight months. Economists
had foreseen a 0.4 per cent m-o-m gain.
The June increase
in personal income was mainly due to gains in compensation and personal current
transfer receipts.
Elsewhere, the
personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding the volatile
categories of food and energy, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred
inflation gauge, advanced 0.2 per cent m-o-m in June, following an unrevised 0.1 per cent m-o-m uptick in May. This marked the first monthly increase in the core PCE price in five months. Economists had expected the indicator would inch
up 0.1 per cent m-o-m.
In the 12
months through June, the core PCE price index soared 2.6 per cent, the same pace as in
the 12 months through May. Economists had forecast a surge of 2.5
per cent y-o-y.