US consumer income rise in March

U.S. families continued to boost their spending in March as their take-home income continued to rise at a healthy rate, showed a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.9 percent in March after rising by 0.5 percent in February, according to the report. Spending is making a comeback following severe winter weather in the first two months this year. Personal income edged up 0.5 percent in March after gaining 0.4 percent in February, higher than economists' expectation of 0.4 percent for the month. The U.S. savings rate, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, inched down to 3.8 percent in March from 4.2 percent a month earlier. The price index for PCE excluding food and energy -- the Federal Reserve's preferred measure for inflation -- rose 0.2 percent in March, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent in the previous month. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economic activity. Personal consumption grew 3 percent in the first quarter, as cold weather held back goods spending, while service consumption remained robust, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.