Personal Spending Rose in September WASHINGTON - Americans increased their spending in September at twice the rate that incomes rose, the Commerce Department said Monday, in what could be a sign of confidence in the economy. The government said consumer spending increased 0.8 percent in September, the best showing since February. Personal income rose 0.4 percent, an improvement from a slight 0.1 percent gain in August and the best gain since March. A pickup in consumer spending helped lift economic growth in the July-September quarter to a modest 2 percent annual rate. The economy had grown at a 1.3 percent rate in the April-June period. The slight acceleration in growth was seen as encouraging, but economists were still worried that the economy was stuck in a slow-growth rut.