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Consumer spending rose 0.4% in December, the Commerce Department reported Jan. 31.
Commerce also said purchases rose 0.6% in November, a larger figure than was originally announced.
Economists had projected spending would increase 0.2% in December, Bloomberg News reported.
Inflation-adjusted spending on durable goods including cars declined 1.4%, after a 2.1% rise the prior month. Purchases of nondurable goods, including gasoline, increased 1%, Commerce said in its Jan. 31 report.
Full-year spending increased 3.1%, the smallest rise since 2009. Incomes were unchanged, pushing the savings rate to the lowest level in about a year, Bloomberg reported.
Guy LeBas, chief fixed income-strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, told Bloomberg the increase in consumer spending “is a good sign for sustaining economic growth. Job creation will have to accelerate to sustain the current level of spending.”
