Nevertheless, the rise in household spending offered the latest suggestion that years of exceptionally low interest rates have finally pushed the economy into a higher gear. Consumer spending rose 0.5 percent last month after being unchanged in July, the Commerce Department said. On Wall Street, housing shares (.HGX) fell even more than the broader stock indexes, which were down sharply as investors focused attention on civil unrest in Hong Kong. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year to keep inflation in check, although Monday’s data gave little sign of growing price pressures.