Consumer spending in October cools while inflation is picking up

Washington

US consumer spending settled back in October to a still-decent pace after the biggest increase since 2009, as a post-storm surge in auto sales cooled. Incomes remained robust and inflation showed progress toward the Federal Reserve's goal.

Purchases rose 0.3 per cent, matching the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, after a revised 0.9 per cent advance in September, Commerce Department figures showed on Thursday in Washington. Incomes grew 0.4 per cent for a second month, marking the best back-to-back gains since early 2017.