Really bad economic reporting at the NY Times

The New York Times usually reports on the government's economic statistics releases pretty well, but it's clear that today Jeremy Peters has no idea what he's talking about:

Personal income rose and consumers continued to spend freely last month. But a key measure of inflation inched higher, perhaps too high for the Federal Reserve's level of comfort.
The Commerce Department reported today that consumers spent .6 percent more than they did in March as wages and salaries rose .9 percent.

Correct so far.

Personal spending excluding food and energy, which the Fed studies closely to gauge inflation, rose .2 percent last month, compared to a .3 percent increase in March. Compared to April of last year, however, spending excluding food and energy rose 2.1 percent, just passing the point the Fed considers an acceptable rate of inflation.

No, he means the personal consumption expenditures deflator, a measure of consumer prices, rose .2% last month. And he means the core PCE deflator (the PCE deflator without food and energy prices) rose 2.1%. It's not spending that rose at those rates, it's prices.

Each month so far this year, food and energy spending increases have hovered right around 2 percent, the upper end of the range the Fed considers healthy. Last month was the first time it passed 2 percent in more than a year.
Hard to say what he means here. The report does not separate out spending on food and energy or the price index for food and energy alone. And we know that prices for food and energy have been rising by more than 2 percent. He must be talking about the core PCE deflator.

The Fed, which will decide late next month whether to raise its benchmark short-term interest rate above 5 percent, will look at inflation against the backdrop of what by most accounts is a slowing economy.
"2.1 has got to be feeling just a bit uncomfortable," Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial. "The economy is slowing down. But at the same time inflation is speeding up. That's why they have a tough call to make. Is rising inflation a bigger threat to sustained economic growth, or is a softer economy a bigger threat?"
The Commerce Department report also revealed that as Americans spend more, they are saving less.

Note that the economist he quotes is clear to talk about inflation, not spending.

Sometimes to get the straight poop you need to go right to the source. The Commerce Department releases can all be found here.