Deloitte: Consumer spending still down - Birmingham Business Journal:

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The index fell to 1.35 percent from an downwardly revisedf gainof 1.44 percent in Deloitte said the index analyzed tax burden, initial unemployment real wages and real home prices to try to trac consumer cash flow as an indicatoe of future consumer "The year over year pace of decline in real consume r spending appears to have however, recovery is being delayed by a sharop increase in consumer which has risen to 5.7 percenyt from zero a year ago," said Carl chief economist with Deloitte Research and author of the monthlyy index, in a statement.
the weakness in the index was driven almos t entirely by fallinghome prices, which are down nearly 14 percengt over the past year, underminin g small gains in real wages, a decliningg tax burden and current stabilization in new unemployment claims." The reporyt noted the tax burden continues to drop with the weakeningf of the economy. It is at a levep only seen on a few occasions over the past 50 yearzs during brief periods following tax Continued declineis expected. Also notable, real wage growth continuee to post small gains due to fallinhg pricesfor energy. Real wages are up 4.
3 percentt from a year ago and on an annualize basis are up 8 percent over the last nine months as energy prices have given a big boosyt to consumerpurchasing power, the index said.