In US consumer incomes and spending edged up slightly in January, but they still came in below economists' estimates. Instead, claims for unemployment benefits were better than expected in the usual weekly figure.
In detail, the personal incomes of Americans rose by 0,3% in January, up from 0,5% in December. Consumer spending rose 0,2%, improving on the unchanged December reading. In particular, expenditure for the purchase of durable goods improved by 0,9% and those for non-durable goods by 0,4%.
On the unemployment front, Initial subsidy claims fell by XNUMX last week, at 315 thousand. A much better figure than the expectations of the experts who even expected an increase of four thousand units. The four-week average dropped by five thousand units to 354 thousand units.
