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Eurozone inflation reaches 16-year high (Finance, 5 articles)
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American consumer spending barely budged in April and growth in personal income growth slowed sharply even though the government started sending out billions of dollars in economic stimulus payments. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending edged up 0.2 per cent in April, just half the 0.4 per cent rise in March. Eurozone inflation surged to the highest rate for 16 years on the back of sharply higher oil prices as consumer spending in the 15-country region showed further signs of weakness. Annual inflation in the eurozone reached 3.6 per cent in May, according to official data released on Friday, up from 3.3 per cent in the previous month. US consumer spending increased modestly in April but spending adjusted for inflation was flat, indicating cash-strapped shoppers were in urgent need of the tax rebate cheques that began arriving at the end of April. Personal consumption expenditures rose by 0.2 per cent, slower than a revised 0.4 per cent rise in March, fresh data showed on Friday. The Canadian economy shrank at an annualized rate of 0.3 per cent over the first three months of the year, the first such contraction since the second quarter of 2003, Statistics Canada said Friday.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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