US consumer spending accelerates in December, price gains ebb

(Sharecast News) - Americans spent more freely at the tail-end of 2024, while price pressures ebbed as forecast. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms personal incomes grew at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% (consensus: 0.4%).

Personal consumption expenditures meanwhile were up by 0.7% (consensus: 0.5%), following a 0.6% rise during the previous month.

As a result, the personal savings rate fell from 4.1% for November to 3.8% in December.

Regarding inflation, the annual rate of increase in the price deflator for personal consumption expenditures decreased from 2.8% to 2.6%.

At the core level, which excludes food and energy, prices were unchanged at 2.8% year-on-year.

Both headline and core PCE rose as expected by the consensus.

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