RJ and Makay

U.S. consumer spending jumped 0.7% in December, according to the Commerce Department. The gain was substantially more than the 0.5% increase economists predicted and a major improvement over November's anemic 0.3% increase.

Consumer spending rose 3.5% for all of 2010, its fastest pace in three years and the largest increase since 2007's 5.2% gain, which occurred right before the recession. The December spending figures were included in the government's fourth-quarter GDP report, which showed 3.2% growth mainly because of robust consumer spending.