U.S. consumer spending rose for the seventh month in a row in September, but the income recorded the lowest gain in more than a year in a sign of moderate spending in the future.
The Department of Commerce said personal spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States, rose by 0.4%, while the August reading was revised up to 0.5%.
The U.S. economy grew by 3.5% in the third quarter of 2018 after growing by 4.2% in the second quarter of the same year. Data showed accelerated growth of consumer spending by 4%, the fastest rate in nearly four years.
Personal income rose by 0.2 percent in September, the smallest increase since June 2017, after rising by 0.4 percent in August. Also, the personal consumption expenditure index which excluding food and energy prices rose by 0.2% in September and by 2% on yearly basis for the fifth month in a row.
The Core Personal Consumption expenditure Index is the preferred inflation gauge for the Fed.
