Consumer Income Up More Than Spending
American consumers' incomes rose more sharply than their spending last month, the government reported yesterday.</br></br>Personal income increased 0.4 percent in February, on a seasonally adjusted basis, slightly better than the 0.3 percent gain the month before, the Commerce Department said.</br></br>Meanwhile, personal spending rose 0.2 percent in February, a pullback from the strong 0.5 percent increase the previous month.</br></br>The numbers show "consumer spending slowed in February, but remains on pace for solid growth this quarter," Peter Kretzmer, senior economist with Bank of America Corp., said in a note to clients yesterday.</br></br>Strong consumer spending, fueled by low interest rates and a series of tax cuts, has largely propelled the economy's recovery from the 2001 recession. Many economists expect consumer spending to grow at a healthy pace in coming months, in part because of the tax refunds many households are receiving this spring, following the latest tax cut.