Personal Spending Falls for Sixth Straight Month

Consumer personal spending fell for a record sixth straight month in December, the Commerce Department said Monday.

Spending fell 1%, following a 0.8% downturn in November, Commerce said. Consumer spending fell 3.6% for all of 2008.

Economists had forecast a 0.9% drop in December spending, Bloomberg reported.

Personal incomes fell for a third straight month, dropping 0.2 %, slightly better than economists’ forecasts, the Associated Press reported.

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