Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's economic activity, rose 0.4 percent in July, the strongest gain since February, the Commerce Department reported.

The growth slightly missed expectations of a 0.5 percent rise, but still was up sharply from zero in June.

"Consumer spending growth remains weak despite accelerating in July. This is probably not surprising in the face of slow job growth, weak wage income growth, and low saving," said Scott Hoyt at Moody's Analytics.

Personal incomes rose 0.3 percent in July, as forecast, matching the growth in the prior two months.

The pick-up in consumer spending suggested that third-quarter economic growth would be better than the 1.7 percent pace of the second quarter, when weak consumption weighed.

"Consumers will not lead the recovery on a consistent basis. They simply do not have the resources. They will contribute, however, maintaining spending growth near overall economic growth pace," Hoyt said.

Inflation remained tame, with virtually no change in consumer prices from June. The department's personal consumption expenditures price index and the core PCE, the indicator closely watched by the Federal Reserve, each rose less than 0.1 percent.

"While spending growth is lackluster, inflation remains tame -- below the 2.0 percent pace considered ideal by most Fed officials," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.