U.S. Personal Spending Rose 0.2% in February
March 31 2023 - 9:22AM
Dow Jones News
By Gwynn Guilford
U.S. households spent more modestly in February as core price
increases eased, possible signs of slowing economic momentum on the
eve of March's banking turmoil.
Consumer spending increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in
February, from January's revised 2% increase, which was the largest
one-month gain in nearly two years, the Commerce Department said
Friday. When adjusted for rising prices, spending fell 0.1% in
February from the prior month, after rising a revised 1.5% in
January.
The core personal-consumption expenditures price index--one of
the Fed's preferred gauges of inflation--climbed 4.6% in February
from a year earlier, down from 4.7% the prior month. Many
economists see the core measure, which omits volatile food and
energy prices, as a better predictor of future inflation.
The overall PCE-price index rose 5% in February from a year
earlier, down from a revised 5.3% in January.
Price increases moderated on a month-to-month basis. The overall
PCE-price index increased 0.3% in February from the prior month,
compared with 0.6% in January. Core prices rose 0.3%, in February
from the prior month, compared with January's revised 0.5%
gain.
Write to Gwynn Guilford at gwynn.guilford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2023 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT)
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