U.S. Consumers Spending Outran Inflation in September

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- U.S. consumers kept spending in September, at a rate that outstripped the rise in prices during the month, according to data released on Friday.

Personal spending rose 0.6% on the month, in line with an August figure that was revised up from an initially-reported 0.4% gain. As such, spending rose faster than the price of the average consumer shopping basket, given that the price index for personal consumer expenditures rose by only 0.3%. 

The figures are a testament to the resilience of U.S. consumer spending. They contrast starkly with a number of other recent economic indicators suggesting that the economy is slowing down, but corroborate the generally strong numbers posted by consumer-facing companies in the third quarter. 

Spending also rose faster than personal incomes, which rose 0.4% from August.

Core PCE prices rose 0.5% on the month, maintaining a pace of increase that will concern the Federal Reserve, for whom the PCE basket is a more reliable guide to actual inflation in the economy than the Consumer Price Index. The annual core PCE index rose from 4.9% to 5.1%, a little lower than the 5.2% predicted.

Other data released on Friday indicated that inflation pressures may be starting to ebb. The rise in employment costs slowed for the second quarter in a row in the summer, gaining just 1.2%, after a 1.3% rise in the second quarter. Growth in private-sector wages and salaries consequently slowed to 5.2% on the year from 5.7% in the 12 months through June. 

"The Fed is monitoring employment costs as it looks for 'compelling' signs that inflation is declining," said Oxford Economics' Nancy Vanden Houten in a note to clients. "The modest deceleration in wage growth in Q3 is surely welcome by the Fed but won't prevent a 75bps rate hike at next week's FOMC meeting."