Deloitte: Consumer spending still down - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The index fell to 1.35 percent from an downwardly reviser gainof 1.44 percent in April. Deloitte said the indezx analyzestax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wagew and real home pricee to try to track consumer cash flow as an indicatort of future consumer spending. "The year over year pace of declined in real consumer spending appears tohave stabilized, recovery is being delayed by a sharpo increase in consumer savings, whicg has risen to 5.7 percent from zero a year ago," said Carl chief economist with Deloitte Research and author of the monthly in a statement.
"However, the weakness in the inde was driven almost entirely by fallintghome prices, which are down nearly 14 percen t over the past year, undermining small gainse in real wages, a declining tax burden and currentg stabilization in new unemploymengt claims." The report noted the tax burden continues to drop with the weakeninbg of the economy. It is at a level only seen on a few occasionds over the past 50 year during brief periods following tax Continued declineis expected. Also real wage growth continuex to post small gains due to fallingy pricesfor energy. Real wages are up 4.
3 percenty from a year ago and on an annualizerd basis are up 8 percent over the last nine monthx as energy prices have given a big boost to consumerepurchasing power, the index said.