Morning Market Roundup: Consumer Spending Down, Oil up, EU Unemployment at Record High … Again

Here’s what’s important in the business world this morning:

Consumer Spending: Americans cut back on spending last month while their income remained flat. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic activity.

The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending dropped 0.2 percent in October. It was the weakest figure since May, and it compared with a 0.8 percent spending increase in September.

Income had risen 0.4 percent in September.

Consumers may be scaling back on spending because of fears about the "fiscal cliff." That's the name for automatic tax increases and spending cuts that will take effect in January if Congress and the Obama administration fail to strike a budget deal by then.

After-tax income adjusted for inflation fell 0.1 percent in October. And spending, when adjusted for inflation, dropped 0.3 percent - the biggest such decline in three years.

EU Unemployment: Another month, another record unemployment rate for the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

Figures released Friday by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, showed that the recession in the eurozone pushed unemployment up in the currency bloc to 11.7 percent in October, the highest level since the introduction of the euro in 1999.

The rise from September's previous record of 11.6 percent was anticipated after the eurozone returned to recession in the third quarter, commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Spain and Greece have the region's highest unemployment rates - both over 25 percent, with youth unemployment levels heading toward 60 percent, a figure that could have a long-term economic and political impact.

Oil: The price of oil rose slightly Friday as traders weighed a new debt deal in Europe against political bickering in the U.S. over looming tax increases and budget cuts.

U.S. benchmark crude rose 34 cents to $88.41 per barrel in New York at midday. In London, Brent crude fell 13 cents to $110.63 per barrel.

Oil prices wavered between $84 and $89 per barrel in November with few dramatic moves up or down during the month. Though oil is on track for its first monthly gain since August, it is trading below the 2012 average of $94.65 per barrel.

Stocks: Stocks were inching lower on Wall Street Friday as lawmakers seek to thrash out a budget agreement. The government also reported that consumer spending fell in October.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 20 points to 13,001 as of 11:58 a.m. Eastern. The Dow fluctuated between small gains and losses for much of the morning. The Standard and Poor's 500 was down 2 points to 1,414. The Nasdaq composite was down six points to 3,006.

Stocks are also little changed for the week. The Dow is down 0.05 percent, the S&P 500 index is up 0.3 percent. The market has fluctuated between gains and losses in recent days as news and comments filtered out from the budget negotiations in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.