US consumer spending picks up

US consumers opened their wallets wider in September, spending at a much faster clip than their incomes rose, Commerce Department data showed Friday. Personal spending rose 0.6 percent from August to $68.7 billion, accelerating from a 0.2 percent pace that month. Incomes, however, rose only 0.1 percent after dipping the same amount in August. The vaunted American consumer, a key driver of the world's largest economy, continued to face the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation. Adjusted for inflation, disposable income fell for the third straight month in September, by 0.1 percent, but less sharply than the 0.4 percent drop in August. Savings the amount of income not spent -- also fell for the third month running, to 3.6 percent of disposable income, its lowest level since December 2007.