MW: Jan. personal income up 0.3%, spending rises 0.2%
By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Commerce Department said Thursday that personal income rose 0.3% in January after a 0.5% jump in December. Consumer spending edged up 0.2% after no movement at all in December. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected 0.4% gains for both income and spending. Consumer spending, while worse than forecast, had some positive signs in January. Durable-good spending climbed 0.9% and nondurable good spending rose 0.4%. It was only services spending that was flat, and that may have been impacted by a lesser need to heat homes due to the fourth-warmest January on record. An inflation gauge the Federal Reserve closely tracks, the personal consumption expenditure price index, rose 0.2% in January after a 0.1% gain in December. Core PCE inflation, which strips out food and energy, rose 0.2%, matching economist expectations.
