U.S. Consumer Spending Rises 0.1 Percent

U.S. consumer spending edged up 0.1 percent, the smallest increase in nine months, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The June figure marked a sharp retreat from May’s 0.6 percent rise and was the weakest showing since September 2006′s 0.1 percent dip, the department said.

At the same time, personal income after taxes increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent for the second month in a row.

June spending on cars, appliances and other durable goods designed to last three years or longer fell 1.6 percent after rising by the same rate in May.

Nondurable-goods spending for items such as clothing and food was flat in June, after May’s 1.4 percent rise, the department said. Spending on services rose 0.5 percent compared with May’s 0.1 percent increase.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 0.1 percent for the fourth straight month in June.

Compared with a year earlier, the core index rose 1.9 percent in June and 2 percent in May, the department said.

Personal savings as a percentage of disposable personal income was 0.6 percent in June. It was 0.4 percent in May.