Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer spending rose in November as auto sales recovered from a 7-year low and prices increased less than expected.
The 0.3 percent increase in purchases followed a 0.2 percent gain in October, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The report's price gauge tied to spending patterns and excluding food and energy, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure for tracking inflation, rose 0.1 percent in November and was up 1.8 percent from the same month in 2004.
Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as 1.3 percent to $59.29 a barrel in New York after a pipeline fire reduced oil exports from Nigeria and a government report showed U.S. inventories dropped.
Economists expect a private report to show that leading economic indicators, which measure the likely performance of the economy in the next three to six months, increased 0.4 percent last month after expanding 0.9 percent in October. The Conference Board will release its report at 10 a.m.
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