Consumer spending level in April

People in the U.S. spent about the same amount in April as they did in the two prior months, according to new data from Gallup.

{mosads}The polling company said people reported spending $88 a day in April on every day items at restaurants or gas stations. The total excludes money spent on larger purchases, or on monthly bills.

That figure’s one dollar more than reported consumer spending in February and March, and is among the best daily spending that Gallup has reported for April.

Gallup said the $88 figure was promising, “and is clearly above the depressed spending that represented the ‘new normal’ during the recessionary and post-recessionary period of 2009 through 2012.”

Still, the polling company also said that consumer spending has been somewhat stagnant over the last year or so.