US personal consumption rises more than expected in March

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) in the US rose 0.7% month-on-month to $134.5 billion in March, above market expectations, according to data released Wednesday.

The markets expected the figure to rise 0.6% in March, while the figure for the previous month was revised upwards to 0.6%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

"The $134.5 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in March reflected increases of $54.5 billion in spending for goods and $79.9 billion in spending for services," it said.

Meanwhile, personal income climbed 0.5% in the same period to $116.8 billion, also above market forecasts of a 0.4% rise.

"The increase in current-dollar personal income in March primarily reflected increases in compensation and proprietors’ income," it noted.

On the other hand, the personal consumption expenditures price index remained unchanged on a monthly basis in March but gained 2.3% on an annual basis.

The index, which was in line with expectations on a monthly basis, was expected to increase by 2.2% on an annual basis.

The index in February increased 0.4% on a monthly basis and 2.7% on an annual basis.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which the US Federal Reserve considers an inflation indicator, excluding food and energy items from the calculation, did not change on a monthly basis last month and rose 2.6% on an annual basis.

The increase in the index, which was in line with expectations on an annual basis, came below monthly forecasts of 0.1%.