U.S. consumer spending rise by 0.2 percent in February, missing projections

(MENAFN) U.S. consumer spending rose by 0.2% in February, a slower pace than anticipated, following a revised 1.2% drop in January, according to reports released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The preliminary estimates for U.S. retail and food services sales in February 2025, adjusted for seasonal changes and holiday and trading-day differences, not accounting for price changes, reached 722.7 billion dollars. This reflects a 0.2 percent increase from January and a 3.1 percent rise compared to February 2024.

The January 2025 figure was revised down from a 0.9% decline to a 1.2% drop. The November 2024 to December 2024 change was upward revised to 0.7%.

"Lower-than-expected consumer spending in the first couple of months of the year likely reflected payback for very strong spending in the fourth quarter and weather-related events since then," said National Retail Federation (NRF) Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz.

"Moreover, these results show that households are apprehensive and carefully navigating lingering inflation and turmoil related to changing economic policies," Kleinhenz added.

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