Americans ramp up spending in February, prices roughly stable

(Sharecast News) - Americans ramped up their spending amid roughly stable price pressures. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, personal incomes grew at a month-on-month pace of 0.3% in February.

Personal consumption expenditures on the other hand shot up by 0.8% versus January.

On the prices front, the headline PCE price deflator increased by 0.3% month-on-month, such that the annual rate of growth ticked up by a tenth of a percentage point to 2.5%, as expected by economists.

The annual rate of increase in core PCE prices on the other hand dipped from 2.9% to 2.8% (consensus: 2.9%).

However, the prior month's reading was was revised up by a tenth of a percentage point to 2.9%.

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