Americans increased spending in July for the third month in a row, but at a much slower pace in a sign that an economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic lost some steam.
Personal spending rose 1.9 percent last month, the government said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 1.6 percent increase.
After a record collapse in March and April, consumer spending roared back in May and also grew sharply in June. Yet a fresh outbreak of the coronavirus hurt the economy last month and sapped the recovery of its earlier momentum.
Incomes rose 0.4 percent, largely because of government payments to businesses to keep employees on payrolls.
Click here to read the full story from Jeffry Bartash at MarketWatch.com.