Economics
Don't Panic Yet About U.S. Consumers' Latest First-Quarter Slump
- Watch softening car sales, gap between sentiment and spending
- Transitory drags include low heating bills, tax-refund delays
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Don’t hit the panic button over another first-quarter slump in U.S. consumer spending. At least not yet.
In each of the past three years, household purchases slowed in the January-to-March period, only to rebound and continue powering the world’s largest economy. While that pattern is projected to repeat in 2017, there may be less ounce to the bounce this time.