PR Newswire (02/12/15)

The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index increased in January, reaching its highest level since September 2010. The index, which comprises four components—tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages, and real home prices—increased to 4.8 from 4.2 a month earlier.

“The increase is due to positive contributions from all four components of the index,” says Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s senior U.S. economist. “The sharp drop in unemployment insurance claims is in line with a steady recovery in the U.S. labor market and augurs well for continued increased consumer spending.”

Initial unemployment claims decreased to 291,000 from 299,600 a month earlier, and are down 15.6% from the same period last year. Real hourly wages were up 0.2% from a month earlier and 1.1% from the same period last year.