US personal spending slows in January, but remains robust

Washington

US PERSONAL spending decelerated in January to a still-solid pace, suggesting momentum among American consumers eased somewhat at the start of the year ahead of the coronavirus concerns.

Personal spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, rose 0.2 per cent from the prior month after an upwardly revised 0.4 per cent gain in December, Commerce Department data showed on Friday that missed the median estimate in Bloomberg's survey of economists.