Consumer Spending and Personal Incomes Both Flat in June

Consumer spending and personal incomes were both unchanged in June after rising 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, in May, the Commerce Department said today in a statement.

"Consumers are still hunkered down," Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Economy.com told Bloomberg News before the report. "The second half of this year we're going to see slower spending." Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a median 0.1% gain in spending and a 0.2% advance in incomes. Personal saving rose to 6.4% of disposable personal income in June, from 6.3% in May.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that consumer spending may "pick up" as wages rise, Bloomberg News reported.