News

Economy on a healthy road as August comes to a close

Consumers were spending on big items, such as cars in July, thanks to increases in wages and salaries. The healthy economic trend is predicted to continue.

August 28, 2015

The end of August brings a bit of economic confidence for the retail segment as U.S. consumer spending was up in July, according to the latest Commerce Department report.

The increase of 0.3 percent was likely due to an increase in wages and salaries, states an AP report published at ABCnews.com.

Consumers shopped for expensive items late month, such as automobiles, and the wage and salary category increased 0.5 percent while incomes jumped 0.4 percent.

It’s a positive trend for the third quarter, note economists and industry watchers.

"All of the data are heading in the right direction," Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets stated in a note to clients, according to AP. "Except for inflation."

Overall the economy grew at what AP describes as a healthy 3.7 percent, and states economic experts predict such a healthy trend will continue through September.

"The consumer is pretty much chugging along," Tom Simons, an economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, told Bloomberg. "It’s clearly encouraging to see the wage gain. We definitely need more of that to see a sustained acceleration in consumption."