- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ |
Americans pulled back on spending in February as inflation bit
US consumers spent less and saved more in February amid rising prices for a range of goods, even as their incomes continued to increase, government data showed Thursday.
The Commerce Department reported personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.2 percent last month, less than analysts had expected and much weaker than the upwardly revised 2.7 percent increase in January.
Incomes rose 0.5 percent, a figure in line with forecasts, as wages rose but prices ticked up 0.6 percent compared to January and 6.4 percent compared to February 2021, with costs for energy and food seeing big yearly gains.
PCE prices are the preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, and Lydia Boussour of Oxford Economics said the latest high reading confirms that central bankers are likely to raise interest rates repeatedly this year to bring price increases under control.
"US consumers will face hard choices in the coming months as surging prices of non-discretionary items such as food, energy, and shelter pressure their budgets and lead them to pare back some purchases and dip into their savings," she said.
Boussour added that rising wages, low unemployment and built up savings could offset some of the hit.
Spending rose $34.9 billion overall, the data said, with consumers channeling more of their dollars towards services like hotels and restaurants, and less towards goods such as automobiles, which are in short supply as manufacturers struggle to find semiconductors.
Food prices were up eight percent compared to the same month last year, while energy prices had climbed 25.7 percent. With those categories excluded, PCE prices were up 5.4 percent compared to February 2021, still higher than the month before.
When adjusted for inflation, both disposable income and spending decreased by less than half a percentage point last month, the data said.
The report contained evidence that more Americans are holding on to their money amid the inflation wave, as the personal savings rate ticked up to 6.3 percent with $1.15 trillion in the bank.
Most of the increase in income was from wages and benefits, which was offset by decreases in government aid programs, according to the report.
Ch.Havering--AMWN