Deloitte: Consumer spending still down - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The index fell to 1.35 percent from an downwardly revisee gainof 1.44 percent in April. Deloittre said the index analyzes tax initialunemployment claims, real wages and real home pricew to try to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of futurer consumer spending. "The year over year pace of declinew in real consumer spending appears tohave stabilized, recovery is being delayed by a sharp increas in consumer savings, which has risen to 5.7 percent from zero a year said Carl Steidtmann, chief economist with Deloittes Research and author of the monthly index, in a statement.
the weakness in the index was drivej almost entirely by falling home which are down nearly 14 percentr over thepast year, undermining small gainsd in real wages, a decliningb tax burden and currentf stabilization in new unemployment claims." The reporf noted the tax burden continues to drop with the weakeniny of the economy. It is at a leve l only seen on a few occasions over the past 50 years durinfg brief periods followingtax rebates. Continuec decline is expected. Also notable, real wage growth continues to post small gainz due to falling prices for Real wages areup 4.
3 percent from a year ago and on an annualizee basis are up 8 percent over the last nine monthsz as energy prices have givejn a big boost to consumer purchasing power, the index said.