Consumer Spending

Though American paychecks are growing at their fastest rate this year and gas prices are falling, consumers are scaling back their spending. Personal incomes picked up 0.4% in March, or $50.3 billion, after a 0.3% rise the month before, according to the Commerce Department . That expansion -- the 28th consecutive monthly rise -- was better than economists had expected. Disposable income was also up 0.4% in the largest gain so far this year. After tax and inflation adjustments, the growth narrowed to 0.2%, but it was still 2012's first increase.

The U.S. economic recovery lost a bit more steam in the first quarter than most experts expected, as business investments and inventories slowed and government cutbacks continued to be a drag on growth. The nation's economic output expanded at a modest 2.2% annual rate in the first three months of the year, down from a 3% increase in the nation's gross domestic product in last year's fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. Most analysts were expecting a GDP growth rate of 2.6% or a little higher for the first quarter.

WASHINGTON - The American economy grew at a sluggish rate in the first quarter, stirring more doubts about the strength of the recovery and the outlook for jobs in coming months. The economy expanded at a lackluster 2.2% annual rate in the first three months of the year, down from a 3% pace in the fourth quarter of last year, the Commerce Department said Friday. Most analysts were expecting the gross domestic product - the total value of goods and services produced in the U.S. - to increase at a 2.6% rate or more in the January-March period.

What high gas prices? American consumer spending last month increased by the most in seven months, even though the rise in their incomes was less impressive. Spending was up 0.8% in February after increasing 0.4% in January , according to the Commerce Department . Even when adjusted for inflation, much of it gas price-related , spending was still up 0.5% -- the best showing in five months. Analysts had worried that the rising cost of fuel would force consumers to cut back elsewhere.

Shoppers hit the malls in February with their wallets open and handed retailers a robust start to the spring season amid another sign of a recovering economy. Strong retail sales and other good news about unemployment claims and consumer spending helped push the stock market up Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 28 points to 12,980 points. Retail analysts were upbeat about the coming months but cautioned that soaring gasoline prices could potentially damp consumer spending.

Oil extended the longest rally in two years as tensions with Iran threatened supplies while signs of economic growth boosted the outlook for demand. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at the highest level since June 2008. Crude for April delivery rose for a seventh day, increasing 1.8% to $109.77 a barrel, the highest settlement since May 3. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased 0.2% to 1,365.74 after earlier rallying as much as 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.74 points to 12,982.95, retreating from an almost four-year high.

The nation's busiest seaport complex had its best January since the recession because of a weak dollar, stronger Asian economies and a steadier U.S. consumer. The cargo traffic numbers also showed the increasing importance of exports at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which rank first and second in the U.S. for container cargo, respectively. As recently as 2008, imports outpaced exports by more than 3 to 1. But in January, the ratio had shrunk to a little more than 2 to 1. Although the U.S. trade deficit hasn't declined, the two ports have done well in luring more customers that ship goods overseas, economist Paul Bingham said.

In what has become a familiar refrain from the chairman of the Federal Reserve,  Ben S. Bernanke described the economic recovery Thursday as “frustratingly slow” and said that “significant headwinds” face consumers and the broader economy. In his first public exchange with Congress this year, Bernanke told members of the House Budget Committee that while the economy has been improving recently -- with consumer spending, manufacturing and job growth up in recent months -- the outlook remains uncertain.

Consumers had more money in their pockets in December, but instead of spending it all they tucked away some of it in their savings. Personal incomes rose $61.3 billion, or 0.5%, to $13.1 trillion in December from November, the highest month-to-month jump in nearly a year, according to the Commerce Department. The increase was fueled in part by rising wages and salaries. But personal consumption expenditures last month dipped $2 billion, or 0.1%, to nearly $10.9 trillion in an about-face from November.

The American economy ended a year of mostly disappointments with modestly stronger growth, but still less than what was hoped for by many analysts. The nation's gross domestic product -- the total value of goods and services produced in the U.S. -- rose 2.8% in the fourth quarter from the prior quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. While that was an acceleration from the feeble growth rate of 1.8% in the summer, the latest GDP figure was below the 3% that most analysts were projecting.