Consumer spending, personal incomes stagnant

Consumers did not boost their spending in June and their incomes failed to increase, further evidence that the economic recovery
slowed in the spring. And Americans saved at the highest rate in nearly a year.

Personal spending was unchanged in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the third straight month of lackluster
consumer demand. Incomes were also flat, the weakest showing in nine months.

The lack of growth for spending and incomes shows the economy ended the second quarter on a weak note. Many analysts believe
growth will slow further in the second half of the year as high unemployment, shaky consumer confidence and renewed troubles
in housing weigh on the year-old economic recovery.

The personal savings rate rose to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June, the highest reading in nearly a year. The savings
rate is now about three times the 2.1-percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began.

While income growth was flat in June, incomes did post solid gains in April and May. But households chose to save the extra
money rather than spend it. Higher savings restrain spending in the near term. But the extra resources allow households to
repair their tattered balance sheets.

"It is of some comfort that households now appear to have something of a cushion that can be used to pay down debt or
support spending," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

Consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.

The government reported last week that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, slowed to an annual
growth rate of just 2.4 percent in the April-to-June quarter. That was down from 3.7-percent growth in the first three months
of the year and a 5-percent spurt in activity in the fourth quarter of last year.

The slowdown reflected the decline in consumer spending, which rose at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the second quarter
compared to a 1.9-percent pace in the first quarter.

Economists are worried that the financial troubles weighing on households could cause spending to ebb even more in the second
half of the year. The sub-par economic growth, just about half the pace normally seen coming out of a deep recession, has
made little headway in reducing the 9.5-percent unemployment rate.

The zero reading on income growth was weaker than the 0.2-percent increase economists had expected. It followed a 0.3-percent
rise in May and was the poorest showing since incomes were also flat in September. Part of the weakness in June reflected
a decline in the number of temporary census workers, which subtracted $3.4 billion from federal payrolls at an annual rate.
A spurt in census hiring in May had boosted government payrolls.

The zero reading on consumer spending was also slightly weaker than economists had forecast. It followed a small 0.1-percent
rise in May and a 0.1-percent decline in April.

The weak economy is keeping a lid on inflation. A price gauge tied to consumer spending dropped by 0.1 percent in June. Prices
are up just 1.4 percent over the past 12 months, well within the Federal Reserve's comfort zone for inflation.