Inflation

Consumer Spending Improves: Report 

Consumer spending rose in February, driven by strong growth in real wages and a decline in energy prices, according to the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index released Wednesday, which attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending. “Falling oil prices and reduced tax burdens are giving consumers the wherewithal to spend. What they are lacking is the will to do so,” said Carl Steidtmann, chief economist with Deloitte Research, a subsidiary of Deloitte Services LP, and author of the monthly Index.