Consumer Spending Jumped Up In February, Incomes Rose Just A Little

By Mark Memmott

Published March 30, 2012 at 8:42 AM EDT

There was a 0.8 percent rise in personal spending in February from January, the Bureau of Economic Analysis just reported. It was the strongest gain in seven months, according to The Associated Press.

But personal income rose just 0.2 percent, the bureau adds. And "disposable personal income," what's left after personal taxes, also rose only 0.2 percent.

Reuters says the combination of a solid gain in spending even as incomes grew only slightly "could prompt analysts to scale back expectations of a sharp pull back in economic growth this quarter" because consumers appear to be confident enough about how things are going to keep pulling out their wallets.

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Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

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