--US April personal income +0.3%; spending +0.4%
--US April wages and salaries +0.5%
--US April services spending +0.5%; durable goods spending -0.6%
--US April personal saving rate -0.7%; March -0.6%
--US April PCE price index +0.3%; core PCE prices +0.2%
--US March personal income unrevised at +0.5%
--US March personal spending revised to +0.2% from +0.3%

By Simon Kennedy
Washington, May 28 (BridgeNews) - Despite a slowing U.S. economy, consumer spending picked up in April, growing 0.4%, the fastest pace since January and double March's increase. But personal income grew 0.3%, its slowest rate since November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Both of the April figures matched private analysts' projections.
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In March, income grew 0.5%, while spending rose a revised 0.2%, previously reported up 0.3%.
Commerce said spending on services, anything from utility payments to vacations, was up 0.5%, slowing from the 0.7% increase posted in March. Services make up about 60% of consumer expenditures.
Spending on durable goods like appliances and furniture fell 0.6% after dropping a revised 0.7% in March.
Durable goods are those with a lifespan of over three years, such as cars and electrical appliances, meaning they are the most sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Meanwhile, spending on non-durable goods such as food, clothing and gasoline climbed 0.7% last month, rebounding from the March's 0.3% drop. On the income side, wages and salaries, which comprise over half of personal income, posted their second consecutive 0.5% increase.
Disposable income--personal income minus tax and some non-tax payments--rose 0.3%, Commerce said. In March, disposable income grew 0.5%. The meager savings rate was a negative 0.7%, below March's minus 0.6% but above January's record low negative 1.3%.

INFLATION
The implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of consumer inflation, rose 0.3%, after being flat in March. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the deflator rose 0.2% in April following a 0.1% advance the prior month.

WHAT WAS EXPECTED:
Estimates of economists surveyed by BridgeNews ranged from up 0.2% to up 0.4% for personal income, and from 0.2% to up 0.6% for outlays. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.