Forex exchange rates remained steady on August 13 after numbers released by the U.S. government showed that consumer spending rates were not as disastrous as initially feared. Consumer spending grew by 0.3 percent in July. While this was below some expectations and overall signaled that the economy is still weak, it was not as bad as some of the “doom and gloom” scenarios expressed by many a forex broker earlier in the week.

The growth in consumer spending was mainly dependent on increases in auto purchases and sales at gas stations. Both of these are known to shift from month to month and as novices will soon learn, forex trading is best done with analyzing more substantial data. Removing gas and auto sales, consumer spending actually dipped by 0.1 percent in July compared to the previous month.