U.S. consumer spending rose solidly in June, in the latest indication that the economy ended the second quarter on stronger footing.

    That momentum appeared to have carried into the third quarter, with another report Tuesday showing factory activity in New York state expanded sharply in July.

    “This is not a fragile economy,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. “The consumer continues to play their part in moving the economy forward.”

    Core sales, which strip out automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, increased 0.6 percent last month after rising an upwardly revised 0.2 percent in May, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

    Core sales, which correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product, were previously reported as being flat in May. Economists had expected them to rise 0.5 percent in June.

    The report added to signs of the economy’s strengthening fundamentals, which could buoy optimism the recovery is on a self-sustaining path, after output contracted sharply in the first quarter.

    Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers the economy continued to improve, but noted that the recovery was not yet complete because of still-high unemployment.

    Yellen, however, cautioned the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates sooner and more rapidly than currently envisioned if the labor market continued to improve faster than anticipated by policymakers.

    Labor market conditions are firming, with the unemployment rate falling to a near six-year low of 6.1 percent in June and job growth exceeding 200,000 for a fifth straight month.

    Prices for U.S. Treasury debt fell on the economic data and Yellen’s interest rate comments, while the dollar gained against a basket of currencies. U.S. stocks traded lower.

    June’s gains and May’s upward revision to core retail sales suggested a pickup in consumer spending in the second quarter after growing at its slowest pace in more than four years in the first quarter because of weak healthcare consumption.(SD-Agencies)