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Reports Highlight Economic Concerns
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Aug 03, 2004 02:27pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Tuesday, August 3, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Nell Henderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 3, 2004; 2:14 PM
American consumer spending dropped 0.7 percent in June, the steepest monthly fall since September 2001, the government reported today. With income growth stalling as well, the numbers raised new concerns about the strength of the economic expansion.
Overall personal income -- which includes wages, salaries and income from dividends, interest, rents, self-employment and other sources -- rose by 0.2 percent in June, the slowest monthly increase in more than a year, the Commerce Department reported.
But personal income was flat after adjusting for inflation and taxes, the report showed. Wages and salaries fell after adjusting for inflation.
The figures were so weak that some economists speculated that Federal Reserve policymakers might consider leaving their short-term interest rate target unchanged at 1.25 percent when they meet next week, rather than raise it to 1.50 percent as widely expected.
The June results "raise increasingly serious questions about the strength and sustainability of the economy in the months ahead," said Charles W. McMillion, president and chief economist of MBG Information Services. |
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