The Commerce Department announced on Friday that consumer spending in
the U.S. jumped 0.8 percent m-o-m in April after an upwardly revised 0.1 percent
m-o-m gain (from flat m-o-m) in March. That marked the biggest monthly increase
in consumer spending in three months. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.4 percent
m-o-m for April.
Meanwhile, consumer income climbed 0.4 percent m-o-m in April, following
an unrevised 0.3 percent m-o-m advance in the previous month. That was
the 15th straight monthly increase in consumer income. Economists had predicted
a 0.4 percent m-o-m rise.
The April advance in personal income was mainly due to increases in
compensation and personal income receipts on assets, which were
partly offset by a decline in personal current transfer receipts.
Elsewhere, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index,
excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, which is the Federal
Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, went up 0.4 percent m-o-m in April, following
an
unrevised 0.3 percent m-o-m increase in March. Economists
had expected the indicator would rise 0.3 percent m-o-m.
In the 12 months through April, the core PCE price index soared 4.7
percent, quickening marginally from an unrevised
4.6 percent in the 12 months
through March. Economists had predicted an increase of 4.6 percent y-o-y.