Investing.com – U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in September, while core inflation matched consensus, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that personal spending increased 1.0% in September from the prior month, compared to expectations for a rise of 0.8% and the prior month’s 0.1% gain.
Consumer spending is the single biggest source of U.S. economic growth, accounting for as much as two-thirds of economic activity.
Personal income, meanwhile, registered an increase of 0.4% in September, in line with forecasts and compared to the prior rise of 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the core PCE price index rose 0.1% in September from a month earlier, in line with expectations for it to match the previous month’s advance.
The core PCE price index rose at an annualized rate of 1.3% in September, also matching consensus for a repeat of the prior month’s increase.
The Federal Reserve uses core PCE as a tool to help determine whether to raise or lower interest rates, with the aim of keeping inflation at a rate of 2% or below.
The report also showed that real personal consumption gained 0.6% last month, beating expectations for a 0.5% increase and following a drop of 0.1% in August.
Following the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1631 from around 1.1627 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3192 compared to 1.3180 previously, while USD/JPY was at 113.57 from 113.65 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.56, compared to 94.60 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open. The Dow futures fell 52 points, or 0.22%, the S&P 500 futures lost 6 points, or 0.21%, while Nasdaq 100 futures edged forward 2 points, or 0.04%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,272.15 a troy ounce, compared to $1,271.58 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $54.01 a barrel from $53.98 earlier.