Americans spend at weakest pace in 20 months

AP ^ | Monday June 27, 2011 | Christopher S. Rugaber

[Bigtigermike]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans spent at the weakest pace in 20 months, a sign that gas prices are taking a toll on the economy.

Consumer spending was unchanged in May, the Commerce Department said Monday. That was the worst result since September 2009. And when adjusted for inflation, spending actually dropped 0.1 percent.

April's consumer spending figures were revised to show a similar decline when adjusting for inflation. That marked the first declines in inflation-adjusted spending since January 2010.

Incomes rose 0.3 percent for the second straight month. But adjusted for inflation, after-tax incomes increased only 0.1 percent in May, after falling by the same amount in the previous month. By that measure, incomes have been essentially flat since the beginning of the year.

Fewer jobs and high unemployment leave workers with little leverage to ask for raises.

[Libloather]

A new Sheetz just opened a few days ago. Introductory price - $3.19 a gallon. Three cents off that with a Sheetz card. Two other stations in the area followed. One didn’t. Haven’t seen a car there in many moons.

[C210N]

Americans spent at the weakest pace in...

AP knows where to lay blame here, Americans are not doing their share to make zer0's recovery work.

[who knows what evil?]

Who is John Gslt?

[Doofer]

...a sign that gas prices are taking a toll on the economy.

Weak dollar, higher gas prices, blame it on the Fed...

[andyk]

a sign that gas prices are taking a toll on the economy.

Or it could be more debt deflation. I know that explains my spending habits over the past year.

[catnipman]

Wonder what kind of bee got in AP’s bonnet for them to stoop so low as to make a straight report on the sad state of the economy without resorting to verbal contortionism to generate some kind of happy talk to try and ease Obama’s pain?

[smokingfrog]

Unexpected!

[bert]

.....what kind of bee got in AP’s bonnet.....

It a set up for the salvation piece. First the problem, the economy killer, then the salvation.

The Messiah has come bearing oil...... salvation is come. You must just believe.

[cp124]

Evil oil companies.

[who knows what evil?]

Er...who is John Galt?

[brownsfan]

Individual families are small businesses. The small businesses in this country are saving as much as possible because they have no idea what’s coming next, but they’re pretty sure it’s bad.

This isn’t rocket science.

[Wyatt's Torch]

It’s the ecOnomy mOron...

[SusaninOhio]

Whether unable to find a job or forced into early retirement (one of each in my family), spending money in order to support Zero’s rotten economy is not an option.

By the way, Zero & Friends, WHERE IS THE BUDGET? You brilliant libs have been in power for multiple years, are you unable to write a simple thing like a budget?

Boehner & friends should be shouting this question from the steps of the capital building.

[Hojczyk]

How many jobs could Sarah create in her first year just allowing drilling..

[raisincane]

My hours have been cut; I have nothing extra to spend. Thanks 0.

[BobP]

Our petulant jackwagon cipher says: I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your economy in.

Employment is an impediment to any good Marxist's objectives!!

You want to spur jobs and growth? Easy. Cut the spending, cut the government, cut the regulations, cut the red tape, cut the bureaucracy, lower the taxes and get the hell out of the way!

Dems says people who took home loans were tricked. No, you Dems pushed your social engineering policies on the mortgage markets and ruined the nation's economy. And all of us are paying for it.

Winning rule in 2012: Direct political attack on Obama!

Conservative Republicans need to expose this fragile, thin veil of a presidential image, held in place by a teleprompter and the piss-stream media.

Hopefully Zer0's massive incompetence will move more people to vote against him in 2012. We'll see.

Countdown until Obama leaves Office: 572 days as of June 27, 2011.

[bert]

-——WHERE IS THE BUDGET? ——

Ahhh...... You don’t get it.

Like rules prohibiting and regulating sex, shunning sexual promiscuity and do as you please, the new progressive way of life is no economic restraints, do as you please, buy what you want....... no budget. No restraints.

Free love and Free money ...... life at it’s fullest

[newzjunkey]

And... we begin to see why the oil was released because it for dang sure wasn’t because of “disruption”.

[blam]

Well...I’m about done with my prepping...I wondered what effect that would have on the economy.