by Caitlin Kenney

Shoppers walk down Lexington Avenue
Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Shoppers on Lexington Avenue last week.

Consumer spending rose just 0.2 percent in December, after increasing 0.7 percent in November. It was the third straight increase in as many months but significantly smaller than the increases in October and November.

The Commerce Department also reports that real after tax-incomes rose by 0.3 percent in December, thanks to a small gain in wages. That increase in incomes sent the savings rate up to its the highest level since June, the annual savings rate rose to 4.8 percent in December.