Income Grows 0.4%; Spending Climbs 0.2%

Personal income rose 0.4%, while personal spending increased 0.2% in December, the smallest increase since September, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

Core personal consumption expenditures, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 1.5% from a year ago following an unrevised 1.4% increase in November.

Total consumption in November increased by an upwardly revised 0.7% from 0.5% initially reported.

Personal income was revised higher to a 0.5% rise from the initially reported 0.4% gain in November.

For all of 2009, personal income fell 1.4%, the largest annual decline since 1938.

Personal consumption decreased 0.4% for the year, also the largest decline since 1938. The $502.7 billion personal savings level for 2009 was the largest on record.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected consumption to increase 0.1% and for incomes to increase 0.2% for the month, according to the median estimate.

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