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Consumer spending up in the US
American consumer spending jumped higher than expected in December, official data showed yesterday. Spending was up 0.7 per cent, while personal income grew by 0.4 per cent. “This represents a very solid end to the year,” commented Peter Newland of Barclays Capital. With spending increasing at a greater rate than income, the savings rate fell by 0.2 per cent, to 5.3 per cent of disposable income.