US consumers spend more money – economy

US consumers were surprisingly happy to spend in February. They increased their consumption by 0.8 percent compared to the previous month, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had only expected growth of 0.5 percent, after only an increase of 0.2 percent in January. Income also increased, but only by 0.3 percent. Private consumption is the most important pillar of the US economy, which has so far managed to avoid a recession despite sharp increases in interest rates. A measure of inflation that the American central bank, the Fed, pays particular attention to in its interest rate policy is the personal spending of consumers. This leaves out the volatile food and energy costs. This so-called PCE core index fell to an annual inflation rate of 2.8 percent in February, after 2.9 percent in January. After some aggressive interest rate increases in the fight against high inflation, the central bank recently paused several times and kept its key interest rate constant in the range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent. At the same time, it has announced its willingness to cut interest rates in the current year. The financial markets have prepared for a turnaround in interest rates in June.