U.S. income growth kept pace with spending in March, say economists at RBC Financial Group. That’s the third month in a row, following a period late last year when income was growing faster than spending.

In March, personal income and personal consumption expenditures both rose 0.4%. “After deducting taxes and other non-tax expenses, personal disposable income grew a bit faster, up 0.5% in March, pushing the savings rate up to 2.2% from 2.1% in February and 0.4% in the fourth quarter. In real terms, income grew 0.3% while spending grew 0.2%,” says RBC.

“Consumers seem to be in good shape coming out of the first quarter, even after the greater-than-expected 3.5% gain in Q1 real consumer spending in last week’s Q1 GDP release,” observes RBC. “Although low interest rates have spurred higher spending on homes and autos, they have also allowed consumers to refinance existing debt, releasing liquidity that people are currently saving as much they are spending. There is nothing here to alarm the Fed into thinking it is falling behind the curve, particularly with the consumer price deflator rising only 0.2% in March.”

RBC says that it expects consumer spending to slow down as the Fed begins hiking rates gradually in June, “leaving the door open for other sectors of the U.S. economy such as business investment and trade to add to growth after dragging for over a year.”