Consumer Spending Edges Up 0.1 Percent

Fri., Nov. 1, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

More signs of a moderating economy appeared Thursday.

A Commerce Department report showed consumer spending - two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity - increased a tiny 0.1 percent in September.

At the same time, Labor Department figures showed the number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose by 23,000 last week to 342,000, a bigger increase than the 15,000 that many analysts had expected.

The Commerce Department said the increase in consumer spending in September was the weakest since a 0.5 percent drop in June.

Private wages and salaries, the most closely watched component of income, jumped $30.7 billion to $3.7 trillion, compared with a $29.4 billion increase a month earlier.

Disposable income - income after taxes - rose 0.6 percent, slightly more than the 0.5 percent advance in August.

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Consumer Spending Edges Up 0.1 Percent

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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