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Consumer spending off 0.1 percent in May

Billy Garlin, a sales and leasing consultant at the Big Two Toyota Scion of Chandler car dealership, shows Lacey Rivera, center, and her sister Shelbey Kearns a new car Rivera had just purchased, in Chandler, Ariz. For the month of May, Americans spent at the weakest pace in 20 months, a sign that gas prices are taking a toll on the economy. (Associated Press)
Christopher S. Rugaber Associated Press

WASHINGTON – For the first time in a year, Americans have stopped spending more.

Consumer spending failed to budge from April to May, evidence that high gas prices and unemployment are squeezing household budgets. When adjusted for inflation, spending actually dropped 0.1 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

April’s consumer spending figures were revised to show a similar decline when adjusting for inflation. It marked the first two-month decline in inflation-adjusted spending since April 2009.

Incomes rose 0.3 percent for the second straight month. But adjusted for inflation, after-tax incomes increased only 0.1 percent in May, after falling by the same amount in the previous month.

Neil Dutta, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, pointed out that inflation-adjusted, after-tax income is now slightly lower than it was in January.

“It was a very poor report all around,” he said. “I think it’s clear that higher gasoline prices are taking a bite out of consumer spending.”

Consumer spending is important because it accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The spike in gas prices has forced many consumers to cut back on discretionary purchases, such as furniture and vacations, which help boost growth.

Fewer jobs and high unemployment have left workers with little leverage to ask for raises. And slow wage growth hurts the broader economy because consumers have less money to spend.

Economists note that the slowdown in spending was partly the result of temporary factors.

Auto purchases fell sharply in May. That lowered spending on long-lasting manufactured goods 1.5 percent, the steepest drop since September 2009. Dealers had limited supplies of many cars because of a parts shortage stemming from the crisis in Japan. U.S. factories are expected to begin producing more cars once Japan’s factories resume more normal operations.

Gas prices peaked in early May at a national average of nearly $4 per gallon. Since then, they have dropped to a national average of $3.57 per gallon, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge. Cheaper gas will likely allow consumers to spend more freely this summer and fall. That should boost growth in the second half of the year.

The economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the January-March period. An Associated Press survey of 38 top economists predicts that the growth rate will be about 2.3 percent in the current April-June quarter. They are more optimistic for the second half of the year, saying growth should pick up to a 3.2 percent pace.