US consumers spent $4.7 billion less in May than the previous month even as incomes rose 0.2%, the Commerce Department said.
The figures confirmed the economy's sluggish turn in the second quarter
In data that showed Americans are still extremely cautious about spending, personal incomes grew at the same 0.2% pace as the previous month, and disposable personal income grew 0.2%.
But wages and salaries, the largest component of incomes, were unchanged in the month.
Consumer spending fell just 0.1%, reversing the previous month's trend in which spending surpassed income growth and consumers ate into savings.
Prices, meanwhile ,were subdued: the personal consumption expenditure price index, a strong indicator of the inflationary trend, decreased 0.2% overall; when volatile food and energy are stripped out, it rose a bare 0.1% month-on-month, the same pace as April.
