Report: Consumer spending grows in April but at slower pace

Atlanta A report released Tuesday by First Data Corp. found that consumer spending continued in April, although at a slowed pace, resulting in the second consecutive month of double-digit volume growth.

The First Data SpendTrend analysis for April tracked same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations.

The report found that same-store dollar volume growth was 10.2% (8.8% excluding gas stations) and transaction growth was 9.0% (8.4% excluding gas stations), following 11.5% and 10.1% respectively in March.

Average tickets rose 1.1%.

Transaction growth improved, according to First Data, but April was not as strong as March. Year-over-year same-store transaction growth was 9.0%, but most categories posted slight declines in growth compared with March.

As the economy showed signs of improvement, consumers chose PIN debit over all other card payment types. PIN debit same-store transaction growth was 12.2% and dollar volume growth was 16.3%, surpassing all other payment card types during the month.