Investing.com - U.S. personal spending bounced back only weakly in January after a poor end to 2018, while incomes also rebounded slightly in February following a brief dip at the start of the year.
The Commerce Department said consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased 0.1% in January, following a 0.6% decline in December, its first drop since September 2016.
Economists had forecast a gain of 0.3%.
Portions of the data were delayed due to the government shutdown that ended in January. Although the following personal income data was for February, the first readings of the year for personal spending and the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) were released on Friday.
Personal income rose 0.2% in February, recovering from a prior decline, which had been its first drop in nearly three years. February’s employment report had foreshadowed the increase through a solid rise in average hourly earnings.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 1.8% year on year, holding steady just below the Fed’s 2% target.