WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending increased marginally in September, suggesting a loss of momentum in the economy at the end of the third quarter as a lackluster labor market and rising cost of living curbed demand.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity, rose 0.3% after a downwardly revised 0.5% gain in August, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending advancing 0.3% after a previously reported 0.6% rise in August.

The report was delayed by a record 43-day government shutdown.

The slowdown in spending followed three straight months of solid gains, attributed by economists to high-income households whose wealth was boosted by a stock market

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