WASHINGTON — Consumption increased 0.4% in April as the personal savings rate edged down to the lowest level in 20 months, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Core personal consumption expenditures, excluding food and energy spending, rose 1.0% for the year ending in April and gained 0.2% on a monthly basis.
Energy goods and services spending continued to trend higher. Year-over-year spending on energy increased 19.6%, the third consecutive month of a double-digit rise.
Total PCE increased 2.2% for the 12 months ending in April.
Personal incomes rose 0.4% in April, following a 0.5% increase in March.
Economists expected a 0.4% increase in income and a 0.5% rise in consumption, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Economists expected core PCE would increase 0.2%.
The personal savings rate — disposable personal income minus spending — shrank for the fourth straight month to $570.6 billion, the lowest level since August 2009.
The savings rate hit a recent high during of $915.9 billion in May 2009, during the recession.
