US consumer spending and income flat in June

US June economic data released on Tuesday turned out worse than expected. Bloomberg reports:

Consumer spending, pending home sales and factory orders were all weaker than projected in June, showing the U.S. recovery lost momentum heading into the second half of the year as employment stagnates.

Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, were unchanged from May, according to figures from the Commerce Department issued today in Washington...

Incomes also stagnated in June, failing to increase for the first time since September, compared with a 0.2 percent gain projected by the survey median. Wages and salaries in June fell 0.1 percent, the first drop since September...

... The number of contracts to purchase previously owned houses fell 2.6 percent in June, indicating demand kept unraveling after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit...

Even manufacturing, which led the world’s biggest economy out of the economic slump, is cooling. Orders placed with factories declined 1.2 percent, more than double the 0.5 percent drop projected by the median forecast of economists surveyed.

July auto sales looked better though, rising 5 percent from a year ago to just over 1 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp.