Yet data released Friday by the Commerce Department also showed that Americans cut their spending last month 0.2% in January from the previous month, likely in part because of unseasonably cold weather. Still, the drop may raise alarms about whether Americans are growing more cautious amid widespread uncertainty about the economic outlook.

Photo: U.S. consumers cut back sharply on spending last month, the most since February 2021, even as inflation declined, though stiff tariffs threatened by the White House could disrupt that progress.

U.S. consumer spending unexpectedly fell in January, but a pick up in inflation could provide cover for the Federal Reserve to delay cutting interest rates for some time. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.