The first of today's four monthly economic reports was November's Personal Income and Outlays data. It showed that personal income rose 0.3% and that personal spending rose 0.4% last month. The income reading exceeded forecasts, meaning consumers had money to spend last month than was thought. That was the negative portion of the report. The good news was the spending reading fell short of expectations, indicating consumers were spending less than what analysts had predicted. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, bond traders prefer to see slower rates of spending.

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