Confronting Wall Street’s expectations, consumer spending spiked in February as income levels rose, revealed a report. According to the figures consumers’ spending and income showed bigger-than-expected gains in February, and construction showed the first increase in nearly a year, fueling hopes that the recent data is a sign that the economic slowdown will not worsen further. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that consumer spending, bolstered by strong income gains, was up 0.6 percent last month, at the same time consumer income rose on a similar pace by 0.6 percent. However, the most interesting part of the report is that construction spending also defied projections for a decline. There was somewhat encouraging gains in nonresidential building overcame slump in home and federal construction. In the meanwhile, a Chicago purchasing manager’s report showed a huge pick-up in Midwest manufacturing; bring about bond traders to speculate against a near-term Federal Reserve rate cut. Moreover, increased wages and employment have provided consumers money that helped them to offset rising gasoline prices and deteriorating home values. At the same time, the higher-than-expected price report has given Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke very less room to maneuver to reduce interest rates. Despite encouraging data experts have warned that they still believe the economy has decelerated further in the January-March period marking a continuation of a yearlong trend of monotonous growth as the country was battered first by soaring energy prices, followed by a slumping home market and troubles in auto manufacturing.