NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Personal income and spending were little changed in April, settling down after big gains in March, the government said Friday.

The Commerce Department said personal income was unchanged after rising 0.4 percent in March, matching the expectations of analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Spending by consumers, which accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's economic activity, fell 0.1 percent after rising 0.4 percent in March, below consensus expectations.

The report had little impact on U.S. stock market futures, which continued to trade higher, pointing to a positive opening on Wall Street. Treasury bond prices also rose.

Private wage and salary income fell $16.1 billion in April, following a $22.8-billion gain in March.

Consumer income is critical to consumer spending, and some economists worry that lingering weakness in the labor market is keeping a lid on salaries -- after all, it's a little harder to ask for a raise when there are so many people waiting in line outside to take your job.

In recent years, despite a recession and terrorist attacks in 2001, corporate scandals in 2002 and a war in 2003, consumers have relentlessly continued to spend, keeping a prop under the world's largest economy.

Super-low interest rates, the lowest in more than 40 years, have helped support that spending by keeping borrowing costs low and allowing people to refinance their mortgages to cash in on equity and get lower monthly payments.

But some economists worry that hiring will have to increase soon because consumer spending and a strong housing market can't carry the economy forever.