US consumers pulled back significantly on their spending in September though their incomes continued to rise. But inflation cut noticeably into both spending and incomes, the Commerce Department said today. Personal consumption expenditures rose 0.3 pct, but most of that increase came from inflation. Excluding the 0.2 pct rise in the the PCE price index, real spending rose just 0.1 pct. However, the slowdown from August's revised 0.5 pct increase also reflected the end of heavy discounting by auto dealers which had boosted durable goods purchases 2.5 pct that month. September services spending also fell back to a 0.2 pct rise from a 0.7 pct increase in August as cooler weather cut the need for electricity to run air conditioners. Core PCE inflation, excluding food and energy, rose slightly in September to 0.2 pct from 0.1 pct in August. That still left the year-over-year increase unchanged at 1.8 pct. The year-over-year headline inflation number, though, was up significantly to 2.4 pct from 1.8 pct in August. Nominal personal income rose 0.4 pct for the second straight month with a strong 0.6 pct increase in wages and salaries. Adjusting for inflation and taxes left real disposable personal income up 0.2 pct, the smallest increase since disposable income was flat in May of this year.