Katrina Contributes To Drop in Spending

Katrina Contributes To Drop in Spending: "Katrina Contributes To Drop in Spending
Personal Income Also Fell in August

By Nell Henderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 1, 2005; Page A01

Consumer spending plunged in August at the steepest monthly rate since the 2001 terrorist attacks as Hurricane Katrina slashed incomes, fanned inflation and caused $170 billion in losses from property damage, the Commerce Department reported yesterday in its first tally of the storm's economic effects.

The report came the day after the Labor Department said 279,000 people filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits because of Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29."