U.S. consumer spending barely rose in August likely as Hurricane Harvey weighed on auto sales and annual inflation increased at its slowest pace since late 2015, pointing to moderation in economic growth in the third quarter.
The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, edged up 0.1 percent last month also as unseasonably mild temperatures reduced demand for utilities. That followed an unrevised 0.3 percent increase in July.
Last month’s gain in consumer spending was in line with economists’ expectations. When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending slipped 0.1 percent in August, the first drop since January.
The government said the data reflected the effects of Hurricane Harvey. However, it could not separately quantify the total impact of Harvey on the data. It said it made adjustments to estimates where source data were not yet available or did not fully reflect the effects of the storm.
