Consumers spent a bit more in August than the previous month, a sign the economy is holding up even as inflation lifts prices for food, rent, and other essentials, the Associated Press reported. Americans boosted their spending at stores and for services such as haircuts by 0.4% in August, after it fell 0.2% in July, the Commerce Department said Friday. Yet much of that increase reflected higher prices, with an inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve rising 0.3% in August, the government’s report showed. The figures suggest that the economy is showing some resilience despite sharply rising interest rates, violent swings in the stock market, and high inflation. Still, there were signs that rising prices are weighing on shoppers. Consumer spending, adjusted for inflation, is growing at a weaker pace. It increased at an annual rate of 2% in the April-June quarter. Yet July and August data indicate that spending growth is on track to slow to an annual rate of just 0.5% in the July-September quarter, economists said.
