US consumer spending up 0.2% in September

US families continued to boost their spending in September as their take-home income posted a solid gain, the US Commerce Department Friday said in a report. US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.2 percent in September, lower than the 0.3 percent growth pace in August, according to the report. US personal income edged up 0.5 percent in September, after rising 0.5 percent in August, said the department. The US savings rate, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, ticked up to 4.9 percent in September from 4.7 percent in August. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the US economic activity. US real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter this year, as real PCE rose 1.5 percent in the third quarter, the department reported Thursday.