WASHINGTON - Americans spent at a moderate pace last month, giving the economy a boost ahead of the holidays and fewer Americans filed unemployment benefit claims last week.
The government says consumers increased their spending 0.4 percent in November. The gain came after shoppers ratcheted up spending by 0.7 percent in October, the most since August 2009.
Even with the latest increases, consumers are still reluctant to go on the type of buying binges needed to dramatically lower the 9.8 percent unemployment rate.
Consumers' incomes grew 0.3 percent last month, helped by gains from fatter stock portfolios. Wages and salaries, however, barely budged. Incomes increased 0.4 percent in October, reflecting strong wage gains.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT CLAIMS
Slightly fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the second drop in three weeks. That's a sign the job market is slowly healing.
The Labor Department says the number of people seeking benefits edged down by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000 in the week that ended Dec. 18.
Weekly unemployment applications at around 425,000 signal modest job growth. But economists say applications would need to dip consistently to 375,000 or below to indicate a significant decline in unemployment. Weekly applications peaked during the recession at 651,000 in March 2009.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose slightly to 426,000. The average had fallen for six straight weeks to the lowest level in more than two years.
Saturday
October 12th, 2024
6:20PM
