Goldman Sachs Weighs In On Weak Personal Income And Spending Numbers

Goldman Sachs' GS Jan Hatzius weighed in today on the weak consumer spending data that was included in Friday's GDP report. He wrote, "While quarterly results for consumer spending were already known-they were published in last Friday's GDP report-the monthly pattern means that consumption heads into Q3 on a weak trend. The report therefore points to additional downside risks to our 2.5% forecast for Q3 GDP growth." Nominal consumer spending ell by 0.2% in June, which compared to expectations for a small increase. Nominal personal income was up 0.1%, which also missed estimates.