Consumer Spending Outstrips Income

ByJohn S. McClenahen Personal consumption expenditures, which constitute about two-thirds of U.S. activity, increased 1% last month as personal income rose 0.6%, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reported June 28. However, there's less to both percentages than initially meets the eye, according to UBS Investment Research, New York. After accounting for inflation between April and May, consumer spending last month was up only 0.4%, UBS economists figure. And personal income, they say, was unchanged from April, after adjusting for taxes and prices.