The report Friday that U.S. consumer spending reversed sharply in September has quickly overturned the view -- rooted in the third quarter gross domestic product data Thursday -- that the recession had ended.
The 0.5% drop in spending after a revised-higher 1.4% gain in August underscored the outsized role played by federal incentives in the third quarter's 3.5% expansion, especially the "cash-for-clunkers" auto subsidies, which ended in August.
