Federal data show New Yorkers cut back slightly on spending at depth of Great Recession

New federal government statistics show consumer spending in New York stuttered only slightly at the end of the Great Recession after more than a decade of year-over-year gains and rebounded after 2009.

Preliminary U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers show there was a drop of less than 1 percent in spending per person from 2008 to 2009, compared to a decline of 2.5 percent nationally. From 2010 through 2012, the last year with available statistics, spending increased a total of 12 percent, close to the 10.7 percent national average.

The statics released Thursday show New Yorkers cut back on buying durable goods in 2009, not services.

Nationally, growth was slowest in states hit hardest by the housing collapse and strongest in states with strong oil and gas drilling economies.