Economists Expect Slower Consumer Spending

New York, NY, Oct. 9, 2009--Bloomberg News is reporting that its survey of economists shows that they expect household purchases will grow at a 1% rate this quarter, followed by 1.5% growth in the first quarter of next year.

Spending rose at a 2.4% pace in the previous three months, the economist said.

High unemployment will keep spending under pressure, they said.

“You just can’t see a lot of strength on the consumer side given how battered income is from job losses and weak hourly wage growth,” David Greenlaw, chief fixed-income economist at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York, told Bloomberg.