WASHINGTON, January 31 (Sputnik) — Rising wages in combination with decreasing energy prices drove fourth quarter US consumer spending to grow at its fastest pace since 2006, US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announced in a press release.
The Commerce Department is working to expand US exports, strengthen American manufacturing, train the workforce and “to help create jobs and keep America more competitive in the global economy,” Pritzker added.
Consumer spending grew by 4.3% pace in the fourth quarter of 2014, the fastest since the first quarter of 2006, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reported.
The IMF recently published its global growth projections, lowering projected global growth rates in the next two years by a third of a percentage point, according to recent statements by the Chief Economist at the IMF. Only the United States showed promise of notable growth, IMF said.
