Personal Spending measures the change in spending of the consumers taking into consideration the inflation readings. It is released on a monthly basis by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In general higher readings are positive for the US Dollar, reflecting consumer spending optimism which can lead to higher economic growth. Some of the exceptions in the Personal Spending readings are home purchases, vehicles, or normal bills.
The United States Personal Spending
The United States Personal Spending latest reading for the month of May 2017 was 0.1%, same as the forecast but lower than the previous reading of 0.4%. For the first 5 months of 2017 the Personal Spending readings have been in the range of 0.1%-0.4%. Personal Spending has a long-term average of 0.54% for the period of years 1959-2017. The all-time high reading was 2.80% in October of 2011, and the all-time low reading was -2.0% in January of 1987. On a 5-year period the readings for the Personal Spending are within a range of 0.2%-1.1%, with the lowest readings in 2013, and highest readings in 2016. On a yearly basis the readings for the Personal Spending are in a downtrend, reflecting a weakness in the general economic performance, measured by the GDP growth.
