por admin » Lun Abr 30, 2012 7:57 am
Los Americanos estuvieron un poco mas cautelosos el mes pasado, sugiriendo que el consumo esta dando menos impulso a la economia que a principios de anio.
El gasto subio solo 0.3% despues de haber subido 0.9% en Febrero.
Los ingresos subieron mas de lo esperado o 0.4%, alimentando las esperanzas de que el gasto podria aumentar en los siguientes meses.
ECONOMYApril 30, 2012, 8:47 a.m. ET
Income, Spending Advance
By TOM BARKLEY And JAMILA TRINDLE
Americans spent a little more cautiously last month, suggesting consumer spending is providing less of a boost to the economy than it did at the start of the year.
Personal spending rose 0.3% in March, slowing from an upwardly revised 0.9% pace the previous month, which was the biggest gain in over two and half years, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Incomes rose a better-than-expected 0.4%, providing some hope that spending could pick up in coming months.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting spending to rise by 0.4% and income to register a 0.2% gain.
Consumption was one of the few bright spots in the Friday's disappointing initial estimate of first-quarter economic growth. While the overall economy slowed to a 2.2% growth rate from 3.0% in the final quarter of 2011, the 2.9% gain in consumer spending was the biggest in five quarters.
Still, with incomes rising modestly and unemployment expected to come down only gradually, some economists are concerned that spending levels can't be maintained.
Monday's report showed that when adjusted for inflation, spending went up 0.1% in May.
Part of the spending increase can be contributed to high prices at the pump, with energy costs rising 1.0% in March following a 3.5% jump the month before.
That helped push the price index for personal consumption expenditures up by 0.2% on a monthly basis in last month. The index is up 2.1% year over year, just above the Federal Reserve's long-term annual inflation target of 2%.
The more closely watched core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, moved up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis in March. The measure rose 0.2% last month from February, in line with economists' expectations for a 0.2% gain.
Last week, Federal Reserve officials noted a recent pickup in inflation due to higher oil and gasoline prices, but predicted it would be temporary. They expected core inflation to end the year between 1.8% to 2.0% this year.
The personal savings rate edged up to 3.8% last month from 3.7% in February, which matched the lowest level of savings as a percentage of disposable income since the end of 2007.