Consumer Spending, Personal Income | featured news

As the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to consider new stimulus for the weak economy, one of the key data it will be looking at is consumer spending, which is clearly waning.

Personal incomes and spending come in flat for June, worse than the slight gains anticipated.

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 incomes rose more than expected in December and consumer spending increased for the third straight month, helping the economy slowly recover from the worst recession in decades.

Propelled by the auto rebate program, consumer spending rose sharply in August, but personal incomes lagged.