Consumer Spending Shows Small January Increase

Consumer personal spending rose 0.2% in January, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The uptick, the smallest since June, was below economists’ forecasts of a 0.4% increase, Bloomberg reported.

The final three months of 2010 were the strongest quarter in more than four years for personal spending.

Personal incomes rose 1%, the most since May 2009. Commerce said.

A rise in consumer spending could increase demand for new factory goods and the trucking shipments that get them to stores.