WASHINGTON – U.S. consumer spending ground to a near halt in July along with growth in personal income, Commerce Department data released Friday showed.
Spending, which drives two-thirds of the U.S. economy, edged up only 0.1% last month and marked a sharp slowdown from the revised 0.6% increase in June.
Personal income also rose 0.1% in July, slowing from June growth of 0.3%.
The month-on-month spending figure was much weaker than the 0.3% rise expected on average by analysts. The income reading matched expectations.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
