(Wall Street Journal) — Consumers, pinched by falling incomes, trimmed their spending last year even as prices for everyday goods climbed, according to a new report from the Labor Department. Consumer groups, defined as families, single persons living alone or sharing a household with others but who are financially independent, and two or more persons living together who share expenses, saw their average income before taxes drop 0.6% from a year earlier to $62,481. Average spending dropped 2% to $48,109 last year. Even as income and spending fell, consumer prices increased 1.6% in 2010.
