WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. households increased spending in October from the previous month, government figures released on Thursday showed. Personal spending in October grew 0.8 percent from September, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The data suggests that interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve have not prevented consumers from spending, even if they must dig into their savings. Spending in October was mainly driven by purchases of new autos, as well as spending on housing and food items. "Households are heading into the holiday season in fairly good shape," said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, as quoted in Investing.com and published in Yahoo Finance.
