Consumers log stronger-than-expected spending rise

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In this Nov. 16, 2009 photo, customers shop for lumber inside Lowe's in Tallahassee, Fla. Consumers got back in the buying mood in October as their incomes grew modestly, an encouraging sign for the budding economic recovery.(AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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Consumers log st... In this Nov. 16, 2009 photo, customers shop for lumber inside Lowe's in Tallahassee, Fla. Consumers got back in the buying mood in October as their incomes grew modestly, an encouraging sign for the budding economic recovery.(AP Photo/Phil Coale)
Pakistan charges... In this photo taken Friday Nov. 20, 2009, an Indian police officer patrols near workers renovating the Taj Mahal hotel, the site where 32 were killed in last years terror attacks in Mumbai, India. One year after the terror attack that left 166 people dead, a thousand men have been deployed to keep watch over high-profile targets in south Mumbai, 500 closed circuit television cameras have been installed across the city and a thousand more are on their way. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Americans search... Thanksgiving traveler Natalie Richards, 4, arrives with her luggage at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco from her home in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Toyota to replac... FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2009 photo, a top selling Toyota Camry is on display in the showroom at the McGeorge Toyota dealership in Richmond, Va. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009, it will replace accelerator pedals on 3.8 million recalled vehicles in the United States to address problems with the pedals becoming jammed in the floor mat.(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Shuttle Atlantis... This image from NASA TV shows the International Space Station drifting away from the Space Shuttle Atlantis shortly after undocking early Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009. The shuttle is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday morning. (AP Photo/NASA)
Philippine massa... The hand of one of dead victims lies across a police line at a hillside in Datu Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, southern Philippines, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two southern provinces under a state of emergency, giving security forces free hand to pursue gunmen who killed at least 24 people in one of the country's worst election massacres. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Panel 1st up in ... FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009 file photo, South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford listens as his attorney Butch Bowers talks about the actions of the Ethics Commission during a news conference, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina legislators upset with Gov. Mark Sanford's summer disappearance to see his lover in Argentina on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, began debating a measure that ultimately would remove him from office. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
Donny Osmond win... In this Monday Nov. 23, 2009 photo provided by ABC, Donny Osmond, left, and Kym Johnson perform during "Dancing with the Stars" in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ABC, Adam Larkey) NO SALES
Wizards edge 76e... Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert (1) goes to the basket against Washington Wizards center Fabricio Oberto (21) of Argentina during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Obama expects su... President Barack Obama listens to a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Comatose for 23 ... Belgium's Rom Houben uses his touchscreen and assistance of his speech therapist Linda Wouters, left, to communicate during an interview at the service center ' t Weyerke in Zolder, Belgium, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Houben was misdiagnosed for 23 years as being in a coma until a doctor at Liege University discovered three years ago that Houben's brain was still functioning. Houben was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state following a car crash in 1983. The discovery took place three years ago but only recently came to light, after publication of a study on the misdiagnosis of people with consciousness disorders.(AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Evening gowns, s... President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcome India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur to the State Dinner at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Sales of new hom... FILE - For sale sign for a new home is shown in East Palo Alto, Calif., in this Dec. 16, 2008 file photo. The Commerce Department's report on October new home sales, to be released Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009 at 10 a.m. EST, is forecast to show a 2 percent increase to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 410,000, from 402,000 in September, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters (AP Photo, File)
Ellis, Morrow le... Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis (8) looks to pass around Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41), of Germany, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)
UNAIDS: Sex main... Chen Zhu, Chinese Minister of Health, speaks during the launch press conference of a new UN report ahead of World AIDS Day entitled UNAIDS Outlook 2010 Tuesday Nov. 24, 2009 in Shanghai, China. A United Nations report says that the virus that causes AIDS is spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend requiring changes in strategy to fight the disease. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Nets fall to 0-1... Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, front, pulls down a rebound in front of New Jersey Nets center Josh Boone in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Denver on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
SPIN METER: 'War... FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2009, file photo Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, holds a copy of the health care bill, trussed in sturdy rope, in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington during a Republican news conference. The full draft of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's House version of the health care bill has been published in the Congressional Record in the official and conventional manner. It is not much of a spectacle, nor much trouble to move: it's 209 pages. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Palin stops in F... Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin signs a copy her her autobiography, "Going Rogue", at the North Post Exchange at Fort Bragg, N.C., Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds)
Saints remain un... New Orleans Saints tight end David Thomas (85) steps over a missed tackle by Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Thousands of str... This undated photo released by Census of Marine Life and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, creeping forward on its many tentacles at about 2 cm per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth at 2,750 meters in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of marine species eke out an existence in the ocean's pitch-black depths by feeding on the snowlike decaying matter that cascades down, and even sunken whale bones, according to a report released Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Larry Madin) NO SALES, MANDATORY CREDIT, EDITORIAL USE ONLY
Iran rejects UN-... Map locates uranium enrichment plant in Iran
Smart kidnapper'... Elizabeth Smart kidnapper, Wanda Barzee, walks to a car following a hearing in federal court, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Barzee plead guilty to kidnapping and illegal transportation of a minor across state lines for the 2002 kidnapping of Smart with her partner, Brian David Mitchell. (AP Photo/Colin Braley)
Afghans on hold,... Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan Foreign Minister, during an interview with the AP at his house in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Abdullah spoke about the uncertainty in Afghanistan as Afghans wait to find out if the U.S. and other nations will send thousands more troops, if the newly elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai will fight corruption and how the U.N.'s decision to send hundreds of workers safely out of the country will impact humanitarian work. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Obama, Chinese p... President Barack Obama, left, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, right, gesture to each other during the arrival at Diaoyutai State Guest House before their bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Study: New devic... In this Nov. 13, 2009 photo, Leonor Ortiz Childers, 46, plays with her children, 3-year-old twins Miranda and Javier, right, and 18-month-old twins Julian and Ava, left, in Durham, N.C. Leonor developed heart failure suddenly when she had to be treated for breast cancer while pregnant with her second set of twins. The HeartMate II heart pump has kept Leonor alive for a year without the need of a heart transplant. (AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)
Colts take advan... New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Indianapolis. Colts beat Patriots 35-34. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Bombing at polic... Pakistani police officials and local residents gather at the site of car bombing at a police station in Badh Ber near Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. A pickup truck laden with explosives attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan, killing people in an area that has become the focal point for militant retaliation against a recent army offensive. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
Gates to lead 6-... U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates tours the production plant of Oshkosh Corporation in Oshkosh, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Behind him is a MATV that is made at the company. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
MIA dog found in... In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, Australian explosive detection dog Sabi is photographed at Forward Operating Base Ripley in Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. Sabi that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year. Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, but there was no sign of Sabi after the battle that followed - until now. (AP Photo/Andrew Mearse, Pool)
Police: Mike Tys... Media interview Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Aaron McCraney, left, after Mike Tyson was booked and released on suspicion of battery at the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Regional Headquarters in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. Tyson allegedly hit a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Suns use 40-poin... Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash tries to pass the ball to a teammate as he heads out-of-bounds in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Hornets Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Iran accuses 3 d... This combination of three photos released by freethehikers.org shows from left: Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer, and Sarah Shourd. A senior Iranian prosecutor said Monday, Nov. 9, 2009 that the three Americans, who were detained on the border with Iraq earlier in July 2009, have been accused of espionage. (AP Photo/freethehikers.org) NO SALES
Lady Antebellum,... This handout photo from NASA shows David Bashford, right, lead of the LaserMotive team, preparing their robotic climber entry in the $2 million Space Elevator Games at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. After three years without a winner in a NASA-backed competition to develop the science fiction space elevator concept, the team from Seattle on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 collected $900,000 after its laser-powered robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet (nearly 1 kilometer) of cable dangling from a helicopter. (AP Photo/NASA, Tom Tschida)
Israel: commando... An Israeli military police officer stands next to rockets seized by Israeli authorities on a ship near Cyprus, and presented in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov )
Karadzic set to ... FILE -- In an Aug. 29, 2008 file photo, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, is seen in the courtroom at the U.N. Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands. Marko Sladojevic, legal adviser for Radovan Karadzic, says the former Bosnian Serb leader will boycott his genocide trial Monday Nov. 2, 2009, to protest what he claims is a lack of time to prepare for the trial, but prosecutors will continue without him and are scheduled to finish their opening statement later Monday. (AP Photo/ Valerie Kuypers, file)
Prisoner deal hi... File photo of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
U.S., U.N. prese... Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi attends the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Sharm el-Sheikh
Israel set to de... A Palestinian labourer works at a construction site in Gilo
India vigilant b... People stroll outside the Taj Mahal hotel ahead of the first anniversary of the militant attacks in Mumbai
WHO probing drug... National Councillor Fiala receives a vaccination during a H1N1 swine flu virus vaccination session for members of the national parliament, during the winter parliament session in Bern
Atlantis leaves ... Astronaut Robert L. Satcher Jr., STS-129 mission specialist, waves at his space-walking crewmates from inside the crew cabin of the space shuttle Atlantis
Atlantis leaves ... The top exterior of Space Shuttle Atlantis' crew cabin is seen in this image taken by an STS-129 spacewalker
Eleven more bodi... A backhoe lifts the wreckage of a local television network's vehicle that was unearthed from a shallow grave in Maguindanao
New York rally p... File photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Khmer Rouge jail... Duch listens during his trial by a U.N.-backed tribunal at the ECCC on the outskirts of Phnom Penh
Obama seeks to r... U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcome India's PM Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur for state dinner in Washington
Obama says will ... U.S. Army soldier takes photos of the eyes of an Afghan man at a checkpoint near of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tillman
U.S. third-quart... Pedestrians are reflected in the glass side of the John Hancock Tower in downtown Boston
Rajaratnam denie... Galleon hedge fund partner Rajaratnam is escorted by FBI agents after being taken into custody in New York
Iran says needs ... Iran's President Ahmadinejad speaks during a ceremony at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility
Big Bang machine... Scientists look at a computer screen at the control centre of the CERN in Geneva
Obama says boost... U.S. President Obama in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington
South Carolina g... South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford pauses as he speaks to the media about his secret trip to Argentina and admits to an extramarital affair at the State House in Columbia
China attacks "b... People use computers at an internet cafe in Taiyuan
U.S. to bring em... A general view shows a coal-burning power station at night in Xiangfan
Israel-Hamas pri... File photo of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
U.S. existing ho... A home is seen for sale in the Washington suburb of Takoma Park
U.S. existing ho... A "for sale" sign sits outside a house in Miami Beach
Iran gained $5 b... A storekeeper counts money beside his cash register at his shop in Tehran
Pakistani forces... Men, fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, line up while waiting for their turn to collect handouts at a distribution point for IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan
Taylor Swift win... Taylor Swift reacts on satellite television picture after winning artist of the year at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles
Radiation leak i... A view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant from Goldsboro
Dimon seen as su... Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaks at the Securities Industry and Financial Marketers Association annual meeting in New York
Indonesian ferry... Rescuers check recovered bodies of victims of a sunken ferry, on a ship at port in Karimun island
China families p... Colleagues wait for information of trapped miners at Xinxing coal mine following a gas explosion at the mine in Hegang
Michael Jackson'... Nakashima looks at sequined glove that once belonged to the late pop star at the MJ46 Japan Tour in Tokyo
Healthcare refor... Senate Majority Leader Reid speaks after the U.S. Senate voted to begin debate on legislation for a broad healthcare overhaul
Israeli presiden... Israeli President Shimon Peres speaks during a news conference in Cairo
Denmark says 65 ... Greenpeace activists hang banners at the Sagrada Familia Temple, designed by Antoni Gaudi, in Barcelona
Militants could ... Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai arrives at Ataturk International airport in Istanbul
Iran launches wa... An Iranian Tondar missile is ready for launch during a test at an unknown location in central Iran
Swine flu may ha... Diaz and her mother, Christina, wait in line for the H1N1 vaccine in Haltom City
Prosecutor seeks... Jailed suspect Amanda Knox sits in the courtroom during a break in her murder trial session in Perugia
NATO takes comma... U.S. troops attend a ceremony in Kabul
Obama asks for p... U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a rally with troops at Osan Air Base