Investing.com – U.S. consumer spending rose more expected in November, although personal income misses forecasts, while core inflation matched consensus, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Commerce Department said that personal spending increased by 0.6% in November from the prior month, compared to expectations for a 0.5% rise and the prior month’s 0.2% gain which was a slight downward revision from the initial reading of 0.3%.
Consumer spending is the single biggest source of U.S. economic growth, accounting for as much as two-thirds of economic activity.
Personal income, meanwhile, registered an increase of 0.3% in November, missing the forecast for it to hold steady at October’s 0.4% advance
Meanwhile, the core PCE price index rose 0.1% in November from a month earlier, in line with expectations and below the 0.2% gain registered in October.
The core PCE price index rose at an annualized rate of 1.5% in November, matching consensus and slightly higher than the prior month’s reading of 1.4%.
The Federal Reserve uses core PCE as a tool to help determine whether to raise or lower interest rates, with the aim of keeping inflation at a rate of 2% or below.
The report also showed that real personal consumption gained 0.4% last month, beating expectations for a 0.2% increase and following a rise of 0.1% in October.
Following the report, which was released simultaneously with durable goods for November, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1854 from around 1.1850 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3385 compared to 1.3387 previously, while USD/JPY was unchanged at 113.38.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was unchanged at 92.95, compared to 92.91 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open. The blue-chip Dow futures inched up 3 points, or 0.01%, the S&P 500 futures edged forward 1 point, or 0.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1 point, or 0.02%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,271.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,271.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $57.98 a barrel from $58.02 earlier.