MW: Personal income up 0.4%, spending 0.1% in October
By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Consumer spending rose a modest 0.1% last month, while personal incomes rose a faster 0.4%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast spending to rise by 0.3% and income by 0.2%. As a result, the personal savings rate rose to 3.5% of disposable income - the money leftover after paying taxes - from 3.3% in September. Inflation, meanwhile, fell 0.1% in October, putting its increase over the past 12 months at 2.7%. The core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1%. The MarketWatch survey called for a 0.1% increase. Over the past year, core PCE inflation has risen a smaller 1.7%. In September, Americans boosted spending 0.7%, even though their incomes rose only 0.1%, revised data showed.
