US consumer spending and income rose in November. Consumer spending rose 0.6 percent from the previous month, as the Commerce Department announced in Washington on Thursday. Analysts had expected this development. As expected, private income rose by 0.4 percent.
The rise in prices continues to intensify. The PCE price index, which is based on consumer spending, rose 5.7 percent from the same month last year. In the previous month, the annual rate was 5.1 percent. The PCE rose by 0.6 percent compared to the previous month.
The core index excluding energy and food rose by 4.7 percent for the year, a little more than analysts expected. Compared to the previous month, the core index increased by 0.5 percent. Here experts had expected an increase of 0.4 percent.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) prefers the PCE price indicator over the better-known CPI index. The latter is usually higher. In November the value was 6.8 percent. The Fed no longer regards the high inflation as a temporary development. It wants to accelerate its exit from the extremely loose monetary policy and raise interest rates more quickly in the coming year. (dpa)