Personal spending cools as inflation reaches Fed's goal

Washington

US consumer purchases rose less than forecast in February even as wage growth improved, according to government data that also showed inflation reached the Federal Reserve's goal for the first time in almost five years.

The 0.1 per cent advance in consumption followed a 0.2 per c nt gain the prior month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. A price gauge based on consumers' spending habits, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, climbed 2.1 per cent from a year earlier, the most since March 2012.