Report: Consumer spending and personal incomes both weak

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The pace of consumer spending stalled in June and personal incomes failed to increase, further evidence that the economic recovery slowed in the spring.

Personal spending was unchanged in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the third straight month of lackluster consumer demand. Incomes were also flat, the weakest showing in nine months.

The lack of growth for spending and incomes shows the economy ended the second quarter on a weak note. Many analysts believe growth will slow further in the second half of the year as high unemployment, shaky consumer confidence and renewed troubles in housing weigh on the year-old economic recovery.

Americans appear to be preparing for tough times. The personal savings rate rose to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June, the highest reading in nearly a year. The savings rate is now about three times the 2.1 percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began.

Consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.

The government reported last week that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, slowed to an annual growth rate of just 2.4 percent in the April-to-June quarter. That was down from 3.7 percent growth in the first three months of the year and a 5 percent spurt in activity in the fourth quarter of last year.

The slowdown reflected the decline in consumer spending, which rose at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the second quarter compared to a 1.9 percent pace in the first quarter.

Economists are worried that the financial troubles weighing on households could cause spending to ebb even more in the second half of the year. The sub-par economic growth, just about half the pace normally seen coming out of a deep recession, has made little headway in reducing the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.

The zero reading on income growth was weaker than the 0.2 percent increase economists had expected. It followed a 0.3 percent rise in May and was the poorest showing since incomes were also flat in September. Part of the weakness in June reflected a decline in the number of temporary census workers, which subtracted $3.4 billion from federal payrolls at an annual rate. A spurt in census hiring in May had boosted government payrolls.

The zero reading on consumer spending was also slightly weaker than economists had forecast. It followed a small 0.1 percent rise in May and a 0.1 percent decline in April.

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