WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Commerce Department said consumer spending dropped 0.2 percent in March, a powerful sign of economic sputtering in a recession now 14 months along.
Personal income fell 0.3 percent and disposable income fell 0.1 percent in the month, the department said.
In February, incomes dropped 0.2 percent, while disposable income fell 0.1 percent.
With consumer spending driving about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, the figures are more cold water on the recovery that showed signs of life in recent months.
"There should be great concern on this front as we enter the summer months," economic analyst Dan Greenhaus at Miller Tabak & Company said in a research note, The New York Times reported.
On Wednesday, the government said the gross domestic product declined 6.1 percent in the first quarter. In addition, a lack of business activity tends to slow hiring.
"Unemployment continues to move higher, and it's very clear that as of now, businesses are simply not hiring and virtually every metric on the labor front has yet to get better," Greenhaus said.
