2009.03.0208:39:00UTC+00Personal Income Rose 0.4% In January, Spending Rose 0.6%

Monday morning, the Commerce Department released its report on personal income and spending in the month of January, showing an unexpected increase in income and a bigger than expected increase in spending.

The report showed that personal income increased by 0.4 percent in January following a 0.2 percent decrease in December. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected income to edge down 0.2 percent.

Additionally, the Commerce Department said personal spending rose by 0.6 percent in January after falling by 1.0 percent in the previous month. Economists had been expecting spending to increase by about 0.4 percent.

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