Consumer Spending Rises at Fastest Rate in Over Three Years

Well it looks like November retail beat expectations rather handedly. The consensus estimate for November was a .7% increase over October. According to a report from the Associated Press,

Consumers put aside worries about slumping home sales and soaring gasoline prices and headed to the malls in November, pushing spending up by the largest amount in 3 1/2 years. The better-than-expected surge lessened fears of an imminent recession.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending shot up 1.1 percent last month, nearly triple the October gain. It was the biggest one-month jump since a 1.2 percent rise in May 2004 and was significantly higher than the 0.7 percent gain analysts had expected.

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