Consumers are the Bright Spot in Economy By Young Research - August 26, 2016 Personal consumption spending in the 2nd quarter increased at an almost 4.4% annual rate while broader GDP growth barely cleared the 1% hurdle. GDP is the blue bars in the chart and personal consumption spending is the gold line. Share this: Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook